Shaft collar material

[tduncan]

I was curious why older cues (60s-80s) have this material on collars and you really don't see it anymore. Is it something not made anymore or more expensive. Pictured below is a cue I own and you can see the cross-stitching? in the collar material. What kind of material is this and why isn't it used anymore? or is it? All the shafts I've had matched up never match this material.... Thanks!

 

[Varney Cues]

Its still used...its just black phenolic with a bit more open weave. Most makers today prefer the double black as its so black that it does not show the weave very much. There are so many different versions of black phenolic that its hard to get them to match when the collars are built with material from different batches, even more so when from different vendors. Atlas now offers black canvas phenolic in the larger sizes...that will look fairly similar if you are looking for a match.
To answer your question directly...the older cues used a material that wasn't produced to be as cosmetically black as todays offerings.