Snooker cues?

Ferrule
Snooker - Brass
Pool - plastic, ivory, etc

Joint
Snooker - may be missing (one piece), 3/4 joint or half joint
Pool - half joint

Tip
Snooker - 9 to 10 mm
Pool - Fatter the better

Pixie Dust
Snooker - cue is a tool to be mastered by the player
Pool - cue is a magical instrument that will make a banger a world champion; magical properties can be improved by adding leather made from skins of exotic or endangered animals, ivory, linen stolen from Irish leprechauns, or whatever else the snake oil salesmen can foist on gullible pool players.
 
well...just about everything!

generally the shafts are ash, though maple is also used.

the cheap production ones are lacquered like pool cues, but the better ones are oil finished, has a very different feel.

taper is conical, instead of the pool 'pro taper'

tips are much smaller (as balls are smaller), in the 9-10mm range

ferrules are usually short and made of brass

tips are softer, elkmaster and blue diamond are pretty popular

joints are generally a brass pin into a brass insert, with a flat face brass plate on both sides....pin in usually on shaft side instead of butt

where the joint is cut can vary....most popular is 3/4 jointed, though you will also find 1/2 jointed and one piece cues with no joint at all

snooker cues are generally lighter, though weight can vary as with pool cues. i'd say around 18oz is most popular.

the design is much simpler on the butt end. it's a long ash shaft, with 4 (most commonly ebony) butterfly splices at the butt end. think like a house cue, but with butterfly splices instead of sharp points. Other decorative splices and inlays can be put in, but they're generally not as ornate as american pool cues.

butt end is normally a bit slimmer at the handle. newer cues also have an brass insert at the end to screw in a variety of extensions.

there is a flat part cut into the very butt end. doesn't really serve much real purpose today, but its a holdover from the very early days of cue sports.

"standard" length is pretty similar, most cues are around 57-58"

that's all i can think of....hopefully i didn't forget something.
 
One thing I like about snooker cues is that no one argues about having LD shafts. Snooker players are less fussy about their cues and are even willing to carry one piece cues to play.

Sent from my X10a using Tapatalk
 
Butterfly splices are rare in snooker cues actually. There are only 2 main makers who make such Mike Wooldrige and the Canadian De Roo.
The 4 splices on a cue you normally see are handmade thus the term a handspliced cue (invented by Peradon). Butterfly cues have only two splices and are machine made although they have rounded points unlike the sharp points you get on a normal 4 spliced machine spliced cue.

Ash is by far the most popular shaft wood, followed by maple and occasionally you will see Pearwood, Hornbeam, Oak, and at the bucket end of the market Ramin.

Swiss Steamed Pearwood (pink when steamed) is the dogs bollocks imo no other wood can be got as smooth.

A one piece pearwood cue may not win matches for you but it sure cures you of buying cues. Alice is my missus, my other cues are just mistresses now and the rest are just slappers.


Alice...

SNC01440.jpg
 
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Butterfly splices are rare in snooker cues actually. There are only 2 main makers who make such Mike Wooldrige and the Canadian De Roo.
The 4 splices on a cue you normally see are handmade thus the term a handspliced cue (invented by Peradon). Butterfly cues have only two splices and are machine made although they have rounded points unlike the sharp points you get on a normal 4 spliced machine spliced cue.

Ash is by far the most popular shaft wood, followed by maple and occasionally you will see Pearwood, Hornbeam, Oak, and at the bucket end of the market Ramin.

Swiss Steamed Pearwood (pink when steamed) is the dogs bollocks imo no other wood can be got as smooth.

A one piece pearwood cue may not win matches for you but it sure cures you of buying cues. Alice is my missus, my other cues are just mistresses now and the rest are just slappers.


Alice...

you guys might have a different use of the term butterfly than in the US. here i think a butterfly splice typically refers to any splice that is rounded and not sharp. so whether it has 2 points or 4, they're all butterflies. i didn't know you guys called only 2 pointed cues butterflies...

also it seems that "machine spliced" refers to sharp pointed cues that we would call full spliced, though that kind of splice could be made by "machine" or by "hand", that delineation is kind of gray as well.
 
.. i didn't know you guys called only 2 pointed cues butterflies...

Well you dont see butterfly's with more than 2 wings do you?

I did not realise you guys called a round pointed splice a butterfly either till Jim posted.

Maybe we should all call four pointed ones be they hand or machine spliced, spiced or inlayed real or painted. Dragonflies or hows about Byplane cues:D

I wrongly said earlier butterfly ones are machine spliced which Mike Wooldridges shark range are but De Roos, i dunno they could be either.

This Peradon ad showing how snooker cues are made shows how both machine spliced cues and hand spliced ones are made.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orI6fddUGF4


(Of course Joe was lying, he was paid to say that. )
 
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cool video, thx for the link!

you also see butterly splices on carom cues, it's a pretty traditional design on those cues. Pretty much the same design as on snooker cues.
 
the dogs bollocks ???

When you write here, you should remember that most of the readers will be North American and unfamiliar with UK slang, a state of affairs that will continue until you come up with your own version of Crocodile Dundee to educate us. :grin::grin::grin:
 
I'm assuming that's like how in the 1920s US people complemented things by calling them "the bee's knees" or "the cat's meow".

I was wondering, what is so great about a dog's testicles...
 
snooker cues

the tapered portion of the butt is the chamfer.
a snooker player can lay the cue chamfer in his hand with the exact result in cue position and grain position, accomplished on every stroke. little known info to the pool player.
 
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