Shaft Collar Replacement

Jimmy_Betmore

Jimmy_Betmore

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I recently purchased a second shaft for cue that I've had for awhile. The new shaft was made by the same cue maker and fits the cue perfectly but the collars don't match. I know that shaft collars can be changed. However, the problem that I see coming into play here is that the collar on the new shaft is .5" long while the collar on the shaft that I'd like to match it to is only .2" long. So, obviously, if I were to have a collar made for the new shaft, it would be .3" short of filling in the shoulder cut on the shaft.

I figure the worst case scenario is that I'll have two great playing shafts for this cue with slightly mismatched collars. (One is .2" x .840" solid black phenolic and the other is .5" x .840" black phenolic with thin silver railroad style rings) But, I'd really like to be able get the new (to me) shaft to match since it's a relatively special cue.

In case you need to know, the cue is a Schick with a 3/8-10 pin.

Thanks!
 
I see a couple of different solutions here.
First of all, the two shafts are going to play differently no matter what, so you might want an easy way to differentiate between the two as you pull them out of your case.
The first is to simply cut the new shaft .3 inches shorter if you want the collars to match exactly. Can you tell the difference between a shaft 29 inches long and a shaft 28.7 inches long? I don't know - some can and some can't. It's about the same as the difference in length of the shaft with a brand new tip and a shaft with a tip that needs replaced. But yes, if you can tell the difference, then the damage is done and the shaft is toast (in your eyes).
Another solution is to add .15" of black phenolic to each end of the collar - on either side of the silver, railroad style rings. That's only a little over 1/8" of an inch on each side. Held side-by-side, the shaft collars would look different, but if they're not side-by-side, they're going to look pretty much the same.
I'm sure others have different solutions for you.
My 2 cents,
Gary
 
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Only pull one shaft out of you case at a time and you won't know the difference...................LOL

Really.... are you just obsessing???

Kim
 
The only real reason I want the shafts to match is for potential resale value down the road. I know the cue originally came with two matching shafts and I'd like to get it as close to original as possible. That's the main reason I purchased a used Schick shaft rather than having another cue maker fabricate one for me. Although I might still end up going this route sometime in the future.

I thought shortening the newer shaft by .3" might be an option but I'm not sure where it starts to taper and wasn't sure if there would be enough "meat" to get the .840" diameter needed to match it to the butt. Guess I'll bust out the calipers when I get home today.

Thanks for the input, guys.
 
Jimmy_Betmore said:
The only real reason I want the shafts to match is for potential resale value down the road. I know the cue originally came with two matching shafts and I'd like to get it as close to original as possible. That's the main reason I purchased a used Schick shaft rather than having another cue maker fabricate one for me. Although I might still end up going this route sometime in the future.

I thought shortening the newer shaft by .3" might be an option but I'm not sure where it starts to taper and wasn't sure if there would be enough "meat" to get the .840" diameter needed to match it to the butt. Guess I'll bust out the calipers when I get home today.

Thanks for the input, guys.
Click to expand...


If it ends up just a little undersized when its shortened up it won't be much. My guess is you might not even be able to tell especially if the faces have radius on the edges. But if there is a step just take it to a repair guy and have them apply some finish to level it up.

Problem solved.
 
Free advice

I am not a cuemaker, so I won't respond in their forum. But I have owned one of Bill Schick's cues since 1997. I offered it for sale last fall, but cannot get back even what I put into the cue in 1997. I took it off the market and started playing with it again.

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=337000

IMO, Bill's cues do not get the respect they deserve among players under the age of 50 (I am 61). The super fancy and expensive cues are still valuable among serious collectors, but that group represents a very specialized market. Bill's cues are among the best playing cues I have had the pleasure of hitting balls with. The only cuemaker who compares is Dennis Searing. From my limited experience of playing with two Searings, the hit is very similar. Blindfolded, I don't think I could tell which was which. There are other great cuemakers, but Bill's cues are definitely special.

My point is that no matter how great your cue plays, I wouldn't go to any lengths to match the length of the collars. You will only face concerns that the change in length would affect play and not be original. If you want them to match, just change the collar to look and fit the same as the original cue. Don't worry about the length of the collar. Whenever you resell, you will most likely be disappointed about the market you will face. Some of the potential buyers were really jerks and were only looking to steal the cue from me.

Congratulations on owning one of Bill's cues. You won't find a better player, no matter how hard you look.

Best regards,
Greg
 
If you really want prime value get Schick to make a matching shaft to the original. Anything less is, well,,,,,less.
 
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