shaft diameter

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Vince_Former_BB

AzB Silver Member
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Playing cue shaft diameter. I'm very curious. Ages ago the standard generic diameter was 13mm (.512"). Nowadays I have no clue. Metric or Imperial system please give me some numbers for what YOU play with. I'd like to get as many as possible. FYI: 1 mm = .03937 of an inch. Or, .010" per 1/4 millimeter. Thank you very much for your participation.
 
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I use Wood Shaft, 13mm Old Hand Grip is not like young gun, arthritis in hand is bitc*.

Wood or Mapel to be exact was good enought for Willie Mosconi to run hell of a lot of balls in row.

Think it was Willie's skill set record, not his Cue, shaft or tip. Never seen Cue miss a ball, or make a ball unless it was in humans hand.
 
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I do think "standard" shaft diameter has come down in recent years. 12.75 and 12.5 seem common for off-the-shelf cues. Then 11.75-12.25 seem another common range for upgraded/LD shafts.

In the past two years I've gone from 13mm -> 12.5mm -> 11.8mm and I really like where I'm at now.
 
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Currently using a carbon fiber about 12.4 really measures 12.5 (my sweet spot)

12.75+ I felt like I didn’t get enough action on the ball had a bigger margin of error on pocketing.
12.25 I felt I had to be very precise for this size.
 
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I've got a 12.25 CF shaft. I need to actually measure my shafts to be sure but I really liked the visual of a 12.7 (1/2") shaft. I wouldn't believe that I would notice the difference compared to a 13mm but it seemed a lot different. I suppose the height of the tip and length of the ferrule have a part in this. I suspect there's a lot of placebo effect but the smaller tip seems to encourage precision. I feel like I can place it more accurately and it feels like a precision tool for doing precise work. If the tip radius is the same, from a pure scientific standpoint, it shouldn't matter. That's what makes this game so interesting is the amount of science that is clearly visible and the feel and technique that are less measurable for the typical player.
Zerksies said:
Currently using a carbon fiber about 12.4 really measures 12.5 (my sweet spot)

12.75+ I felt like I didn’t get enough action on the ball had a bigger margin of error on pocketing.
12.25 I felt I had to be very precise for this size.
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I've thought about trying some different sizes but at $450 a pop, it gets expensive. I wonder how much of a factor is the larger tip having more support, even having the same radius and hitting at the same distance from center. I think the vast majority of my miscues are purely sloppy tip placement and carelessness but my 12.25 seems to make them more dramatic when they do happen. The extra stiffness of the carbon may play into that, too.
 
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bbb said:
What do you plan to do with the information you gather?
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Not entirely sure yet. I'm an information nut. I know the shaft diameters have shifted over the years and with the advent of Carbon Fiber shafts so I was just curious to see how much. I always played 12-3/4 wood shafts. Carbon fiber 12-3/4 plays very different from the wood version I'd been used to. I'd stopped playing for about 15 years and when I returned CF was all the rage but with much thinner shafts. Anyhow, curiosity get the better of me.
 
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Vince_Former_BB said:
What would you guess the most, second most and third most would be Mike?
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Good morning
First for me would be sighting. I've made myself thicker shafts, they all wind up getting turned down eventually to 11.5. That seems to be what I play my best with.
Next.... Comfort
3rd. Idk
I've made shafts as small as 9mm for Snooker players.
I remember Jeff White a Canadian pro use to use his Snooker shaft around 10mm to play 9 ball with and play well too.
Not uncommon for the Snooker players to use thier Snooker cues to play 9 ball and others.
Etc etc etc
Last week I finished a 10.5 for a guy who plays 8 and 9 ball bar box. He loves that size.
In the 90's I worked the Tournaments with the CPA in Canada. Worked from Oshua down to London. I think I've seen just about every size. What ever works for people. Every one is different.
 
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I used to like a larger shaft. When I started using a glove I went to a smaller shaft. I now have a 12.25mm, 12.4mm and a 12.5mm, all cf. I prefer the 12.25mm and 12.4mm with glove. All are pro taper. For me, the glove made the smaller diameter feel "right".
 
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