Why do nearly all cuemakers put the pin in the butt... instead of the shaft? Just something I always wondered about. Billiard cues seem to be pin in shaft. Why not in the pool cues? Tradition?
pin in shaft
- Thread starter Charlie Edwards
- Start date
yes . But the fashion/technology seems to move : the last 2012 carom models from Longoni are coming with pins in the butt
http://www.longonicues.com/index.ph...iew=article&id=307:vintage1&catid=3&Itemid=10
http://www.longonicues.com/index.ph...iew=article&id=311:vintage2&catid=3&Itemid=10
http://www.longonicues.com/index.ph...iew=article&id=312:vintage3&catid=3&Itemid=10
Not an actual reason, but perhaps a good 'side effect' or 'hindsight reason':
When joints are done pin-to-wood (no insert in the shaft), any cross threading or overtightening, or just thread wear would happen on the wood side. If the pin was in the shaft, it would be the butt that was broken, which is more expensive to replace! So if you have the pin thread into the shaft, if you damage the threads, only the shaft would have to be replaced/repaired, which is cheaper and easier to do.
When joints are done pin-to-wood (no insert in the shaft), any cross threading or overtightening, or just thread wear would happen on the wood side. If the pin was in the shaft, it would be the butt that was broken, which is more expensive to replace! So if you have the pin thread into the shaft, if you damage the threads, only the shaft would have to be replaced/repaired, which is cheaper and easier to do.
One other consideration is that most players have more than one shaft [per butt] and each spare shaft would have to have its own pin.
TW
TW
The one lingering thought I've always had about this subject is the fact the late, great cuemaker Burton Spain built his cues with the pins in the shafts... because he felt that produced a superior playing cue.
I didn't think about plugging, however I imagine that doing that would reduce the value of any component. Since the butt is where the 'value' of a cue lies, I'd say that if you had to plug/drill/retap a cue, I'd rather have it done in the $200 shaft rather than the $1000 butt.
Almost correct.
Burton felt his entire joint design - not just the pin location - produced a superior playing cue, and having the pin in the shaft was integral to how his joint was constructed.
TW