I haven't noticed any real differences in all the wood shafts I've used regarding weight. As long as the overall cue weight is suitable and the shaft is well made, I don't see any issues. It seems there is a bit of a myth that heavier shafts are inherently better as the wood must be more dense. Some people tend to forget other issues affecting weight like taper, length and metal inserts.
How about this……look at the next 30-40 or 100 cue listings. Doesn’t matter if the cue is newly made or 50 years old.
Take the weight of the cue, multiply it by 18% (.18), 20% (.20) and 22% (.22). The only caveat is the cue maker has to be recognized as being top notch versus a wanna be. The best cue makers pay attention to building their cues with weight proportionality of the cue shaft and cue butt. They seldom, if ever, built cues without a heavier weight cue shaft.
Consider the genuine facts about how the best named cue makers built their pool cues. I look at every for sale listing that catches my eye. I’ve been doing this since 2004 when I reinvented my pool cue specs. It always holds true that heavier version shafts were used by the best cue makers. Now don’t take my word for this but I do put my money where my mouth is. This is exactly how all the cues in my case were built and I’ve spoken with many talented cue makers over the years. They always respected the importance of matching a shaft weight to the cue butt weight.
Now that’s just a fact and I also proved that many cue makers I contacted over the past 6 to build a couple of 4 oz. flat faced big pin uncored Kielwood shafts for me were flat out wrong. They told me the shafts cannot be built without adding weight to the shaft collar because torrefication renders the shaft lighter so weight would have to be added.
BULLSHIT….. they were wrong……..the shafts are sitting in my case. And the shafts play great, low deflection is fine and the shafts are 29”, not 30”, and there been no inserts or weight added to the shafts,…..just tip, ferrule and wood shaft. It took months of searching but I eventually located a few cue makers that can and do build heavier KW shafts.
Don’t take my word for this……start checking every for sale listing that catches your eye and look at the specs or call the most talented cue makers you might know. I can’t believe that pool players haven’t noticed this pattern of cue making decades ago. It is so obvious because it stares you in the face with cue for sale listings and pool cue anatomy.
That why I wrote a 3 oz. Kielwood shaft seems mismatched due to disproportionate weight relationship with the cue butt. It would otherwise suggest the butt weight would have to be ridiculously light. So challenge with with facts, not your opinion. I just gave you the hard core facts and you can verify this yourself. Pay attention to all cue for sale listings and then tell me I am wrong. It won’t be 100% of the ads you see but 99% should be adequate proof, don’t ya think? But at least choose cue makers that have been in business awhile. Just look for respected names when double checking me.
Heavier wood shafts play better if matched with the shafts. This didn’t happen by coincidence……the best cue makers
built their cues this way and still do. So simply start paying attention to for cue for sale ads and you’ll see I am correct.
p.s. I have posted about the importance of weight proportionality in the Cue Makers Forum and so far not a single cue maker has refuted my remarks about the shaft weight relationship with the pool cue butt. The silence certainly seems deafening.
