Hear people talk about taper on a shaft all the time. So what is a pro taper vs standard or parabollic. Do most Custom Cue Makers have their own or what?
Pro Taper
- Thread starter poolfitkids
- Start date
simple . . . . . . . . not!
A pro taper is a very loose term to refer to a basically straight cylinder starting at the ferrule going back for anywhere from about 10 inches to around 20 inches. Few of them are genuinely straight cylinder and will play poorly in my opinion if they are. They have a very slight taper for the length of the pro taper typically. The exact taper varies with perhaps every cuemaker. The pro taper is in contrast with a european or conical taper which has a faster taper in the playing section than the pro taper, sometimes even a straight taper from the ferrule to the butt cap.
Parabolic taper refers to the transition from the pro taper or some conical taper shafts to the taper near the joint. A single curve can be used here or a compound "S" curve. The "S" curve is the parabolic taper.
I prefer a fairly fast taper but still in the "pro taper" range for about 14 inches with a parabolic transition to the taper at the joint. This gives the playing characteristics I like. Almost everyone's mileage will vary!
Try a search too, this is a common subject brought up often.
Hu
A pro taper is a very loose term to refer to a basically straight cylinder starting at the ferrule going back for anywhere from about 10 inches to around 20 inches. Few of them are genuinely straight cylinder and will play poorly in my opinion if they are. They have a very slight taper for the length of the pro taper typically. The exact taper varies with perhaps every cuemaker. The pro taper is in contrast with a european or conical taper which has a faster taper in the playing section than the pro taper, sometimes even a straight taper from the ferrule to the butt cap.
Parabolic taper refers to the transition from the pro taper or some conical taper shafts to the taper near the joint. A single curve can be used here or a compound "S" curve. The "S" curve is the parabolic taper.
I prefer a fairly fast taper but still in the "pro taper" range for about 14 inches with a parabolic transition to the taper at the joint. This gives the playing characteristics I like. Almost everyone's mileage will vary!
Try a search too, this is a common subject brought up often.
Hu
Thanks for the responses pretty much explains it all.
This guy is SMART!
I've known Hu for about 7 years now. One thing I learned is there ain't NOTHING he don't know about. When he got his PhD (Pool Hall Degree), he really went on a rampage learning about this & that. Rumor has it that as a child, he would read a different volume of the now defunct "Encyclopedia Brittanica" just for kicks & giggles BEFORE he even went to kindergarden!
Once he went to kindergarden, the teachers, noting he already knew more than they did, entered him into one of those contests where they gather up super-genius kids and ask them random questions about anything in the universe, seen or unseen. Hu won so many of them championships back to back to back to back that they not only barred him, but they discontinued the whole competition! It later came back in a slightly different format as the "International HotDog eating Championships."
Whenever I need to know anything, I don't Google it, I just ask Dr. Shooting Arts. I get a more informed answer that way!
All the kidding aside, he may be the most well read member on AZB. And that's not brown nosing, that's just fact!
I've known Hu for about 7 years now. One thing I learned is there ain't NOTHING he don't know about. When he got his PhD (Pool Hall Degree), he really went on a rampage learning about this & that. Rumor has it that as a child, he would read a different volume of the now defunct "Encyclopedia Brittanica" just for kicks & giggles BEFORE he even went to kindergarden!
Once he went to kindergarden, the teachers, noting he already knew more than they did, entered him into one of those contests where they gather up super-genius kids and ask them random questions about anything in the universe, seen or unseen. Hu won so many of them championships back to back to back to back that they not only barred him, but they discontinued the whole competition! It later came back in a slightly different format as the "International HotDog eating Championships." Whenever I need to know anything, I don't Google it, I just ask Dr. Shooting Arts. I get a more informed answer that way!
All the kidding aside, he may be the most well read member on AZB. And that's not brown nosing, that's just fact!
You might think of it in terms of the shapes involved. From the tip back, anwhere from 10 to 14 inches or so, picture a cylinder. For the remainder of the shaft picture a cone.
Different cue makers may use variations on this theme.