Short Ferrules

Runner

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've been noticing a lot of newer style cues have
short ferrules, 1/4" or 3/8"... I came up playing 1"
and 1 1/8"... is this a low deflection thing or just
a trend? Just curious.
 

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Texas Carom Club

9ball did to billiards what hiphop did to america
Silver Member
I just don't like the look of a long ferrule

Looks like a cigarette to me
Half inch max for pool
3/8 for carom
 

tucson9ball

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've been noticing a lot of newer style cues have
short ferrules, 1/4" or 3/8"... I came up playing 1"
and 1 1/8"... is this a low deflection thing or just
a trend? Just curious.

You are correct, it is a low deflection thing. Reduces end mass.
 

Runner

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
You are correct, it is a low deflection thing. Reduces end mass.

Ok, got it... I hit some with a friend's OB cue with very short
ferrules, and it didn't seem to deflect any less than my Scruggs
player, with 1" Ivory ferrules.
 

cuesblues

cue accumulator
Silver Member
We parted this shaft from an old Brunswick Tru-balance house cue.
I decided to try a short uncapped micarta ferrule.
For whatever reason, ferrule, wood, luck, it could not have turned out better.
My original intent was to build a carom cue, but I think with a little longer pro taper it could be a fantastic playing cue.


20190422_131846.jpg
 

pt109

WO double hemlock
Silver Member
I feel the long ferrule was necessary because of ivory..it's relatively fragile compared
to modern materials.
...been playing with half inch for years....uncapped...more wood the better.
 

hang-the-9

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Ok, got it... I hit some with a friend's OB cue with very short
ferrules, and it didn't seem to deflect any less than my Scruggs
player, with 1" Ivory ferrules.

I bet if you setup a deflection test with a cueball on the far end rail, and hit the cueball off the spot with 2 tips of english aiming the cue straight ahead, you would see an inch or more difference with where the cueball hits the object ball. Difference with some shafts can be a full ball depending on the spin and speed it's hit with. Look at some videos, in many of them the players are aiming with spin, but the aiming line is not even going to contact the object ball, they just know to aim there with spin and deflection will carry the cueball to correct spot. Bustamante is very easy to see doing this.

I think this actually causes a lot of newer players to miss balls, they don't know how their shaft deflects or even know that it's a thing, so when they use spin they miss, and don't even know why.
 
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Bavafongoul

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Old school....1" ivory ferrules.....the legendary players of yesteryear
wren't using short ferrules & still unbroken world records were made..
 

Texas Carom Club

9ball did to billiards what hiphop did to america
Silver Member
tis not a matter of performance, just looks
they also made those performances on cues that didnt cost 5k plus or 30 dollar multilayer tips or black shafts, or low deflection
yada yada yada
 

Michael Andros

tiny balls, GIANT pockets
Silver Member
I've been noticing a lot of newer style cues have
short ferrules, 1/4" or 3/8"... I came up playing 1"
and 1 1/8"... is this a low deflection thing or just
a trend? Just curious.

Can't stand short ferrules. For me, they're ugly, plus I don't like the way they hit balls. I wouldn't put less than a 1" ferrule on one of my cues, even at gunpoint. And my preference is 1 1/4".

Simply my opinion.

IMG_20190fkfhk_150550.jpg
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
For the past 15 years or so I've played with a 3/8" ferrule on a 10mm tip. Its walls are necessarily thinner, but even using hard tips it has held up.

To me a normal size tip looks like a baseball bat and a normal size ferrule looks like half the shaft.

pj
chgo
 

Michael Andros

tiny balls, GIANT pockets
Silver Member
For the past 15 years or so I've played with a 3/8" ferrule on a 10mm tip. Its walls are necessarily thinner, but even using hard tips it has held up.

To me a normal size tip looks like a baseball bat and a normal size ferrule looks like half the shaft.

pj
chgo



And yet another example of the Theory of Relativity at play in the world of Pocket Billiards! :D
 

pt109

WO double hemlock
Silver Member
Can't stand short ferrules. For me, they're ugly, plus I don't like the way they hit balls. I wouldn't put less than a 1" ferrule on one of my cues, even at gunpoint. And my preference is 1 1/4".

Simply my opinion.

View attachment 518392

My opinion is that ferrules are there to keep the wood from splitting after x number of hits.
When they started using modern materials, far better than ivory, the longer length not
only become arbitrary, I think it deadens the hit somewhat.
If I was a cuemaker, I would've experimented with impregnating the wood near the tip...
...an extremely mild version of diamond wood.

And the real downside of ferrules being short, Michael, is that they're always trying to
borrow money off you.....:cool:

ps...what really bugs me is that the root root of "ferrule" comes from the Latin "ferreus"
which came from "ferrum" which pertains to iron............
...have you ever seen an iron ferrule?...I've seen one steel ferrule used by John Pullman...
..a ten time world snooker champ from the 50s-60s.
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
If I was a cuemaker, I would've experimented with impregnating the wood near the tip...
Interesting idea - some people play with no ferrule, so this would be a step more durable than that. Wonder if it could be strong enough and less dense than a plastic ferrule.

pj
chgo
 

Michael Andros

tiny balls, GIANT pockets
Silver Member
My opinion is that ferrules are there to keep the wood from splitting after x number of hits.
When they started using modern materials, far better than ivory, the longer length not
only become arbitrary, I think it deadens the hit somewhat.
If I was a cuemaker, I would've experimented with impregnating the wood near the tip...
...an extremely mild version of diamond wood.

And the real downside of ferrules being short, Michael, is that they're always trying to
borrow money off you.....:cool:

ps...what really bugs me is that the root root of "ferrule" comes from the Latin "ferreus"
which came from "ferrum" which pertains to iron............
...have you ever seen an iron ferrule?...I've seen one steel ferrule used by John Pullman...
..a ten time world snooker champ from the 50s-60s.


I think most ( or at least used to be ) British ferrules ( snooker, I guess ) were brass? At least I think I read that somewhere. Weird. That would be a permanent shark for me. Just as teeny weeny tiny whiny ferrules are! :grin:

In all seriousness, the first time I ever saw an inch long ferrule was @ 73 or so, the first time I saw a Meucci. Every ferrule I'd ever seen to that point was 5/8" ( I believe ). And as soon as I laid eyes on it, I was like... wowwwwwwww. I **LIKE**. And when I hit a ball with it ( and, granted, there were other factors in play as well, I'm sure ) I was like **WOWWWWWWWWW** I LIKKKEEEEEEEEEE!!! :grin: :grin: :grin:

So I bought one. And 2 months later the ferrule split in half. And I was like... wow. I DON'T like. So I sold it. But, in fairness to Bob, some years later I bought another one and the ferrule was just fine. He got the kinks worked out I guess.

But for me, really, the ferrule length is all about aesthetics. The entire image of a cue, to me, is representative of a long, elegant shape that gradually tapers from the butt cap to the tip. Contributing to that image of long elegance is the wrap which, visually, is long, the joint ( and, no, I DO NOT LIKE short, teeny, tiny joints for these same reasons ), which, on mine, are long ( ish ) and the ferrule. And a short ferrule *really* interrupts that aesthetic for me. It's like one of those intelligence tests where it shows a photo of 4 cars, a brand new Caddy, Lincoln, Mercedes and a 25 yr old Dodge with bald tires and bad paint, and asks "Which one doesn't belong?" It's not only easy to answer but actually difficult to even *look* at.
 
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PRED

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Interesting idea - some people play with no ferrule, so this would be a step more durable than that. Wonder if it could be strong enough and less dense than a plastic ferrule.

pj
chgo

Durability with no ferrule is not a concern.
 

Bob Jewett

AZB Osmium Member
Staff member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Durability with no ferrule is not a concern.
I think it depends on what sort of shots you play. I assume you are referring to the case where there is some kind of pad between the leather tip and a solid wood shaft. My experience with that setup is that practicing fancy shots eventually damages the wood behind the pad.
 

PRED

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I think it depends on what sort of shots you play. I assume you are referring to the case where there is some kind of pad between the leather tip and a solid wood shaft. My experience with that setup is that practicing fancy shots eventually damages the wood behind the pad.

When your car finally wears out, you get a new one. Put a hundred thousand miles on the old girl and she is ready for a trade in.
 
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