Snooker Cue

[smittie1984]

I'm not sure if this is the best place to post questions about non-custom cues but figured it would be better here than in the endless posts in the main forum

I have never played snooker in my life. But I enjoy collecting cues and buying decent cues. I do want to start playing some snooker.

Never thinking much about it I never looked into snooker cues. All I know is the tip is very skinny and they usually are 60" long.

Now I want to buy a decent snooker cue incase I pick up on it. So my questions are...

What is a good production snooker cue?
What do I need to look for in it?
What weight is prefered?
Is there anything else I shoudl look for?

A person that has a snooker table bought some "Smith and Wesson" snooker cues. It looks nice but I noticed the Ferrel is one of those stainless steel ones. And the tip looks odd to me.

Just looking for some opinions. Any help is appreciated.
Smitty

 

[titlistsucker]

Never thinking much about it I never looked into snooker cues. All I know is the tip is very skinny and they usually are 60" long.

Snooker tips are often 9mm to 10.5mm.

Now I want to buy a decent snooker cue incase I pick up on it. So my questions are...
What is a good production snooker cue? Parris, Craftsman, Omin, Master. The last 2 are thai made but they are cheap and pretty well does the job

What do I need to look for in it?
Good balance. Snooker players favor 3/4 joint or one piece cue, not the 2 pc variety commonly used in Pool. Maple or Ash shaft. No RAMIN please.

What weight is prefered?
17.5 Oz -18.5 Oz 99% of snooker pros are within this range.

Is there anything else I shoudl look for?
Stick to Ash or Maple. Maple if u cant handle the highly figured nature of ash. All snooker cues are conically tapered (time to horne your open bridge..) Most (99%) snooker cues are brass ferruled.

 

[BLACKHEARTCUES]

I'm not sure if this is the best place to post questions about non-custom cues but figured it would be better here than in the endless posts in the main forum

I have never played snooker in my life. But I enjoy collecting cues and buying decent cues. I do want to start playing some snooker.

Never thinking much about it I never looked into snooker cues. All I know is the tip is very skinny and they usually are 60" long.

Now I want to buy a decent snooker cue incase I pick up on it. So my questions are...

What is a good production snooker cue?
What do I need to look for in it?
What weight is prefered?
Is there anything else I shoudl look for?

A person that has a snooker table bought some "Smith and Wesson" snooker cues. It looks nice but I noticed the Ferrel is one of those stainless steel ones. And the tip looks odd to me.

Just looking for some opinions. Any help is appreciated.
Smitty

Most Snooker Qs are about 57" long. Only an American Q would be longer. You don't need a special Q to play Snooker. Just get a shaft for you playing Q that is 11-12 MM at the tip & you;re in business...JER

 

[lignum]

Most English cues today are 58" standard length and 16.5 - to 18.5 oz . Tips size is now generally 9.5 to 10mm in diameter , not the larger 11mmm or more of bygone era's ! .
Almost all the cues I make here in South Oz are either snooker cues or 8ball pool cues (1 3/4" cueball , 2" object), only recently started knocking up a few 9ball (American) style cues for people .
For pool people usually ask me for 8 - to 10mm , for snooker generally 9.5 to 10mm , occasionally half a mil either way on the snooker !
The preference is also for 1 piece or 3/4 jointed cue's , not many centre jointed cues and mine are hand spliced as is less common but more highly valued (butterfly splicing I think you guys probably call it).

I might just add a Z shaft is perfect for you 9ball players wanting to try snooker , I know a fellow knocking in regular hundred breaks still even though he now uses his 9ball cue with Z shaft as he's switching games from snooker to 9ball for tournaments in future .

 

[smittie1984]

Thanks for the advice. I'm probably going to buy a Smith & Wesson snooker cue. It's a 2peice but I don't believe it costs much. I feel it would be good to get into the sport. And as I play more and meet other snooker players I'll gain more knowledge.

I'll take some pictures of the cue and post it here so you guys can look at it.

 

[Colin Colenso]

Personally I think the brass ferrules are a big mistake for snooker cues, though they are the standard. I much prefered a horn or plastic type ferrule, for better feel and lower deflection.

Also, a lot of good players have used cues 16 oz and lighter. 10mm would be max...usually closer to 9.5mm in my experience. Some guys have played with 6mm tips but that is extreme. I wouldn't go below 9mm.

I prefered maple for three reasons.
1. In snooker one tends to put their chin on the cue. Ash can rip the hairs out of your chin..ouch.
2. Ash cues are often whippier. Though some quality old ash can be stiff.
3. Ash V grain can be annoying to look at, making you have to rotate the cue so it lines up all the time.

Ash shafts with even and attractive grain arrows tend to be quite highly priced, even if they're as whippy as bamboo.

 

[Mase]

I'm not sure if this is the best place to post questions about non-custom cues but figured it would be better here than in the endless posts in the main forum

I have never played snooker in my life. But I enjoy collecting cues and buying decent cues. I do want to start playing some snooker.

Never thinking much about it I never looked into snooker cues. All I know is the tip is very skinny and they usually are 60" long.

I build a fair number of snooker cues here in Canada. They are generally 57" long with a 10.5 mm tip

Now I want to buy a decent snooker cue incase I pick up on it. So my questions are...

What is a good production snooker cue?
I bought a bunch of Dufferin cues when they went out of business and have some of their snooker cues.

What do I need to look for in it?
Same as any other cue. Well made.

What weight is prefered?
Usually 17 to 18 oz.
Is there anything else I shoudl look for?

A person that has a snooker table bought some "Smith and Wesson" snooker cues. It looks nice but I noticed the Ferrel is one of those stainless steel ones. And the tip looks odd to me.

Just looking for some opinions. Any help is appreciated.
Smitty

e-mail me and I will let you know what I have.

 

[Cornerman]

.

Never thinking much about it I never looked into snooker cues. All I know is the tip is very skinny and they usually are 60" long.

Professional snooker cues are generally not 60" long. Up until about a decade ago, I'd say that most snooker cues were shorter than American pool cues (by an inch or three). Today, they may be roughly the same length, but that's judging by online suppliers.

Fred