small knot in nice shaft

[Sheldon]

Good stuff, I especially like what qbuilder has to say!
A minor knot or mark near the joint won't cause many people the slightest worry.... Some customers can be picky about it, so it's best to find out before you give a shaft like that up. Worst comes to worst, Use it in a sneaky pete, or give someone a real good deal on a 'blem' shaft later on down the road.

 

[JoeyInCali]

I have a super nice shaft that I want to use for the cue. Problem is there is a very very small knot about 6 inches below the joint. I mean its the size of pin and Id hoped it would cut out but shaft is to final size and there it is. Is there anything you can do to cover this thing up or fill it so it looks natural. I dont what to make to much of it but it kinda bugs me. I hate to throw away such a nice shaft. Thanks for any advise.

Mark

If the shaft is perfect from the tip down to 23'rd-inch line and that knot bothers him, I really don't know what to say.

 

[desi2960]

old bar cues

i believe that many of the older players that bounced around bars playing off the rack as i did in the 60's and 70's really play as good with a old brown wall cue marked with knife cuts or a piece of masking tape. it was just a way for the local player to easily find his favorite cue. and most of these cues usually had the best tip and were the straightest in the bar
i have a good friend that plays about the same speed as i do, and we love to play each other. he is a fanatic about his cues and wants a shaft bleached so white that it hurts your eyes to look at it in bright light. his ferrule has to be spotless, and god forbid if you put his shaft in the case the wrong way. it has to be with the joint end down and he carries his case upright so the tip never touches the case. i live in mo and he is az, we do not get a lot of opportunities to play and a couple times we had both to play off the rack. he lost both times 80% to 20%.
as a rule of thumb, i believe the older players that have played off the rack don't seem to have as big a problem playing with a dirty shaft as the younger snow white shaft players
just my observation chuck starkey

 

[jazznpool]

Thompson Maple Products has all the conventional kiln dried "brown" and sugary shaft dowels one could ever want and they're cheap (or, used to be)! I bought a few hundred of their #1's about 2 years ago just to get a small percentage of really straight-grained clear ones. I wanted to have hem on hand for sneaky petes without joint collars where the shaft color would blend with an older house cue butt. I find the voodoo and the lore around maple shaftwood endlessly fascinating and entertaining!

Martin

I'm gonna have to charge more for the ugly wood I have been selling!