Taper Wobble Question for Cue Junkies

dakota

dakota

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I know this may not be the best area of the forum, but I am looking for feedback from people that buy and sell a number of cues. If you buy a cue with a longer taper like a Schon, Jacoby, Frey, or something with a fairly long Pro Taper, would you be shocked to see a tiny amount of taper wobble? In other words, if the cue rolled flat together and apart, but within the shaft taper if you look closely you can see that there is a tiny amount of wobble like it will be flush with the table and then maybe you will see enough light that you could slide a credit card under it, would this be a concern. I am just curious what your opinion is about this since I seem to have this with a number of my Schon cues, and I am just wondering if a little taper wobble is fairly common with the longer Pro Taper shafts. I know I have had other more conical taper cues like a Mike Bender that have a more constant taper that stay on the table all through the taper, but with some of the pro tapers it seems like even though the cue rolls flat and everything that within the taper there can be a little inconsistency or little taper wobble if that is the right term? Is this fairly common with Pro Taper cues or what are your thoughts?

Thanks,

Dakota
 
I'm curious too...there are lot of people that claim their shaft has a taper wobble but I don't fully understand this term. Does anyone has a technical explaination, as I find people claim, especially on the southwest cue, that the shaft has a taper roll but I also find southwest shaft with these exact taper that rolled perfect? so what exactly is taper roll?

Maybe I'm answering my own question but I've alway thought that the taper roll means when the shaft spin straight on the lathe but the inconsistency of the taper affect the roll of the shaft. Don't know if this make sense...or if this is correct. The roll of the shaft is also affected by the facing on joint if it rolled together with a butt. Someone really need to clear this matter as there seem to be a lot of confusion out there....now it seem that all the newbees are starting to roll the each cue when the want to buy them...if they see a wobble..they won't even hit with it...which is unfortunate, as some of the best hitting cue alway seem to have a slight roll to the cue.

Regards,
Duc.
 
dakota said:
....I am just wondering if a little taper wobble is fairly common with the longer Pro Taper shafts....
Click to expand...

A little bit of wobble/warpage in a shaft as you have described is common and would most certainly be found on 90% of all the shafts you could ever encounter....regardless of the taper used. This is true for used cues or brand new ones even. Wood is a natural material and not completely consistent throughout. For this reason, it will have a tendency to move around based on atmospheric changes like humidity and temp. Also, when cues move around (travel) into a different climate it is commonplace for them to maybe exhibit some unexpected warpage and then straighten back out once they stabilize to the current climate conditions. Novice buyers/traders need to understand this about shafts. I am not saying that all shafts will warp like bananas, but a slight bit of warpage, say 5-10 thousandths, is the norm.

A perfectly dead straight shaft is the exception, not the norm.
 
Thanks for the feedback

Gentlemen,

Thank you for the feedback. I thought this was the case and especially with a fairly long pro taper I would think it would nearly impossible not to have a little taper wobble. Anyway, I really appreciate your feedback and I mainly just wanted to confirm that I wasn't out of line thinking that this was fairly normal in most all cues.

Thanks again,

Dakota
 
cueaddicts said:
A perfectly dead straight shaft is the exception, not the norm.
Click to expand...

This is true. Most of my cues even those that I bought brand new has some taper roll on them but these do not affect the playability of the cue and I have no problem with it but I do think that the seller has the responsibility to disclose this information. I hate it when sellers do not state this on purpose and I end up being disappointed with the transaction. You have to be wary of these sellers. There are some sellers here on AZbilliards that are like that and they are supposedly reputable sellers. I had one transaction where I bought a cue for more than 1K and one shaft has a taper roll. I PMed the seller and told him about my disappointment and I never got a response... of course, since he already got my money, he no longer have the need to respond to me. Personally, I felt like I was cheated on the transaction because the taper roll was not disclosed. I would not have paid for that much on the cue had I known about the taper roll... but then again, that is exactly the reason why some sellers opt to hide this fact from the buyers.
 
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Maybe OT but what is important is when the shaft and butt are jointed, and u roll the cue slowly one turn by the joint area on TOP of the table's rail, watch the ferrule if it bounces up and down.
 
Not to worry.....unless!

Exactly Joey, if the tip pops off the table we do have a problem (Houston) :p

I'm no expert for sure but, I don't think that it is unusual to find a variance in the taper of the shaft between the joint and say 4 to 6 inches from the ferrule???

I really don't completely understand why this happens but, I would love to have some of the cuemakers here explain the reason -- I don't think it's uncommon -- quite the contrary IMHO!?

It would be nice not to have this variance; however, I don't feel it necessarily effects the playability of the cue!?

What do you guys think, Ken :)
 
depends on how little. just remember that the wobble you see is exagerrated to one side,,,ie when you see the "dayight" between it and the table you are seeing it at it's most extreme. the warp, in fact is half of that.
 
krbsailing said:
Exactly Joey, if the tip pops off the table we do have a problem (Houston) :p

I'm no expert for sure but, I don't think that it is unusual to find a variance in the taper of the shaft between the joint and say 4 to 6 inches from the ferrule???

I really don't completely understand why this happens but, I would love to have some of the cuemakers here explain the reason -- I don't think it's uncommon -- quite the contrary IMHO!?

It would be nice not to have this variance; however, I don't feel it necessarily effects the playability of the cue!?

What do you guys think, Ken :)
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Believe it or not, shafts and butts might not be perfectly ROUND.
There is some variance. But center to center the cue should be relatively straight.
Also rolling a cue with a dual-taper or multiple-tapered butt on the cloth might make the cue wobble but the cue is not crooked. ON dual tapered butts the bottom of the forearm is fat and has to be "feathered" down a little by handsanding sometimes. That area might not be perfectly round and might make the butt lift a little when rolling on the cloth.
 
Now That's what I'm Talkin about

JoeyInCali said:
Believe it or not, shafts and butts might not be perfectly ROUND.
There is some variance. But center to center the cue should be relatively straight.
Also rolling a cue with a dual-taper or multiple-tapered butt on the cloth might make the cue wobble but the cue is not crooked. ON dual tapered butts the bottom of the forearm is fat and has to be "feathered" down a little by handsanding sometimes. That area might not be perfectly round and might make the butt lift a little when rolling on the cloth.
Click to expand...


That is what I'm confused about Joey....I understand the cue is not necessarily speaking crooked but, trying to explain that .....well that's beyond my expertise (if I have any :rolleyes:))

Please tell us more! Thanx, Ken :)
 
JoeyInCali said:
Maybe OT but what is important is when the shaft and butt are jointed, and u roll the cue slowly one turn by the joint area on TOP of the table's rail, watch the ferrule if it bounces up and down.
Click to expand...


The technique Joey mentions is by far the best indicator of wobble.... (without a lathe of course)...Rolling the shaft on the bed of the table the cue may appear straight (no tip wobble)......By rolling it on the rail edge ......no wobble can hide.

I actually have noticed that some times the tip will wobble when only certain sections of the shaft is resting on the rail....You will definatly see the wobble if there is one.
 
BRKNRUN said:
I actually have noticed that some times the tip will wobble when only certain sections of the shaft is resting on the rail....You will definatly see the wobble if there is one.
Click to expand...
Yup that means that that shaft is still very much playable as long it doesn't wobble when rolled near the joint. I don't like rolling right AT the joint collar too b/c that section is sanded to match.
 
Let me buy this guy a pitcher of ????

JoeyInCali said:
Yup that means that that shaft is still very much playable as long it doesn't wobble when rolled near the joint. I don't like rolling right AT the joint collar too b/c that section is sanded to match.
Click to expand...

Joey, thanks for this insight because I didn't realize exactly why this was happening! Thx, Ken

P.S. -- this might belong in the cuemakers section but, it's great info ;)
 
dakota said:
I know this may not be the best area of the forum, but I am looking for feedback from people that buy and sell a number of cues. If you buy a cue with a longer taper like a Schon, Jacoby, Frey, or something with a fairly long Pro Taper, would you be shocked to see a tiny amount of taper wobble? In other words, if the cue rolled flat together and apart, but within the shaft taper if you look closely you can see that there is a tiny amount of wobble like it will be flush with the table and then maybe you will see enough light that you could slide a credit card under it, would this be a concern. I am just curious what your opinion is about this since I seem to have this with a number of my Schon cues, and I am just wondering if a little taper wobble is fairly common with the longer Pro Taper shafts. I know I have had other more conical taper cues like a Mike Bender that have a more constant taper that stay on the table all through the taper, but with some of the pro tapers it seems like even though the cue rolls flat and everything that within the taper there can be a little inconsistency or little taper wobble if that is the right term? Is this fairly common with Pro Taper cues or what are your thoughts?

Thanks,

Dakota
Click to expand...

Things that may cause a wobble:
wapage
out of round
un even joint face
alcohol

Things that will never ever cause wobble:
TAPER!
MULTIPLE TAPERS!
WEIRD TAPERS!
TAPERS!
TAPERS!
TAPERS!
 
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