the ebony hit confusion.....

S

sluggerknuckles

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hello everyone and thank you in advance for your opinions.....

I have read time and time again about the hit of ebony and purple heart. I recently was conversing with a reputable cue maker about a custom cue. He stated that ebony is a pretty wood to work with but since the cues are cored with maple, he said that his cues have a maple hit and that the ebony was for ethetics.

I would appreciate any input that the cuemakers have on this matter. I would like to order an ebony cue sine everyone raves about the hit but would like to clear up any confusion before I go any further with my plans.

Thanks
 
sluggerknuckles said:
Hello everyone and thank you in advance for your opinions.....

I have read time and time again about the hit of ebony and purple heart. I recently was conversing with a reputable cue maker about a custom cue. He stated that ebony is a pretty wood to work with but since the cues are cored with maple, he said that his cues have a maple hit and that the ebony was for ethetics.

I would appreciate any input that the cuemakers have on this matter. I would like to order an ebony cue sine everyone raves about the hit but would like to clear up any confusion before I go any further with my plans.

Thanks
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Just saying it because you think it's true is not an answer.

You need 2 cues made exactly the same except one is solid ebony and the other is cored with maple. Then hit with both and make a decision.

Kim
 
Logic would suggest that the larger mass of a given wood would have the greater input.

but logic isn't always prevalent here:grin:
 
sluggerknuckles said:
Hello everyone and thank you in advance for your opinions.....

I have read time and time again about the hit of ebony and purple heart. I recently was conversing with a reputable cue maker about a custom cue. He stated that ebony is a pretty wood to work with but since the cues are cored with maple, he said that his cues have a maple hit and that the ebony was for ethetics.

I would appreciate any input that the cuemakers have on this matter. I would like to order an ebony cue sine everyone raves about the hit but would like to clear up any confusion before I go any further with my plans.

Thanks
Click to expand...



I would have to agree with the cue maker you were talking with. Ebony doesn't have to be cored and neither does Purple heart but without coring these woods especially Ebony you are going to have a very very heavy cue. Coring is done in the case of these woods for weight control not for stability of the wood itself.

I am currently build to purchased blanks, one has Ebony in the handle area and the points and a Birdseye forearm, and the other also has an Ebony points and handle with a Tulip wood forearm. Both cues if not cored would weight between 23 and 24 oz when finished.

If you want a solid cue that uncored using Ebony you have to expect it top be heavy.
 
cored

So is it the core that gives a cue that certain characteristic hit or is it combo of the coreday and chosen woodsthat give it its hit.
 
sluggerknuckles said:
So is it the core that gives a cue that certain characteristic hit or is it combo of the coreday and chosen woodsthat give it its hit.
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The combo, quality of construction, materials and the handle.
A maple cored ebony will still hit harder ( all things being equal than a maple cored sapele or some other woods )
Combination of woods have to do with hit too.
Let's take a house cue for example. A purpleheart bottom cue is almost always more popular than a mahogany bottom house . They might weigh the same ( more weight is added on the mahogany bottom house cue ) but it is almost always certain the purpleheart bottom house cue will somehow feel better to most players.

Ebony is a very dense and heavy wood yet it is somewhat brittle. I've seen thousands of dollars worth of ebony cue crack in the display rack. It needs to be seasoned for a long time. We're talking a decade for most. So, to many makers coring them is an added security.
 
People who rave about the hit of Ebony must not really like to draw their cue ball or else they have a very high action ferrule on their shaft. Yes, Ebony cored with Maple will hit more like Maple than Ebony, but it still does not hit just like Maple. If you want the look of Ebony and a hard flat hit go with non cored Ebony. If you want cue ball action closer to the hit of Maple then go with cored Ebony.
 
cueman said:
People who rave about the hit of Ebony must not really like to draw their cue ball or else they have a very high action ferrule on their shaft. Yes, Ebony cored with Maple will hit more like Maple than Ebony, but it still does not hit just like Maple. If you want the look of Ebony and a hard flat hit go with non cored Ebony. If you want cue ball action closer to the hit of Maple then go with cored Ebony.
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Tap Tp Tap 100%
 
I recently had a cue built with an Ebony forearm not cored, and Maple handle. Its a flat faced phenolic joint, and 0.6" ivory ferrules w/ triangle tips. Cue weights 19.6oz and the shafts are 12.73mm. The cue plays just phenomenally, draws the ball super easy, is powerful and accurate. The balance is 19" from the back and the overall length is 58". The mass of the cue is very evenly distributed. I am very very pleased with the cue and am falling in love with the way it plays. I hope my experience helps.
 

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cueman said:
People who rave about the hit of Ebony must not really like to draw their cue ball or else they have a very high action ferrule on their shaft. Yes, Ebony cored with Maple will hit more like Maple than Ebony, but it still does not hit just like Maple. If you want the look of Ebony and a hard flat hit go with non cored Ebony. If you want cue ball action closer to the hit of Maple then go with cored Ebony.
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Uhhh - isn't draw, like any kind of spin, accomplished by follow through?

If you can't draw the ball with an Ebony cue, the problem is in
your stroke.

Dale(formerly able to draw on demand)
 
skierlawyer said:
I recently had a cue built with an Ebony forearm not cored, and Maple handle. Its a flat faced phenolic joint, and 0.6" ivory ferrules w/ triangle tips. Cue weights 19.6oz and the shafts are 12.73mm. The cue plays just phenomenally, draws the ball super easy, is powerful and accurate. The balance is 19" from the back and the overall length is 58". The mass of the cue is very evenly distributed. I am very very pleased with the cue and am falling in love with the way it plays. I hope my experience helps.
Click to expand...

Not a cue maker but I'm a player who has used cues made from just about everything and put full table draw strokes on them all.

Dude...That's just a sweet cue! Ernie does a great job of naturally weighting and balancing his cues to really get them to play amazing no matter what materials are used. Not sure the wood of the cue will interfere other than how the cue may feel or sound and in the case of a cue made by Mr. Martinez it will feel and sound great IMHO.

I think draw is more in the shape of the tip's edges, the taper of the shaft for a smooth stroke not to mention as it's most important part, the actual stroke of the person holding the cue. If you have a rounded edge on your tip that hopefully holds chalk well and a smooth accelerating stroke hitting through the ball below it's equator with a bit of speed you'll see some serious draw action with any cue.

As for the feel of purple heart, it's a stiffer feel to your grip hand then maple with a nice amount of feedback and once again IMHO ebony is a slightly softer feel then PH with slightly less feedback but not by much. If you're concerned about it not being playable or familiar feeling as a maple cue then get it with a core of straight maple and you get a great compromise in looks and feel. I did once play with an ebony forearmed cue that had a purple heart core and handle that did hit pretty nice but it was forward balanced as hell(21.5) and stiff as can be. Felt like shooting with an Iron bar attached to light weight shock absorber(maple shaft).

JMHO and Good shooting to you guys!

Kevin
 
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sluggerknuckles said:
Hello everyone and thank you in advance for your opinions.....

I have read time and time again about the hit of ebony and purple heart. I recently was conversing with a reputable cue maker about a custom cue. He stated that ebony is a pretty wood to work with but since the cues are cored with maple, he said that his cues have a maple hit and that the ebony was for ethetics.

I would appreciate any input that the cuemakers have on this matter. I would like to order an ebony cue sine everyone raves about the hit but would like to clear up any confusion before I go any further with my plans.

Thanks
Click to expand...

And I guess everybody rags on maple and oak and cocobolo? What equates to a 'magical' hit varies from person to person as much as does the preference to tits or asses. I don't particularly love to look at oak, but I have a cue made from it that hits firmer than anything else in my stable. My advice would be to look into more scientific websites that will teach you about material properties and then learn about woods on your own so you can come to a more comfortable decision on your own. Then of course, you'll want to buy a lathe.
 
pdcue said:
Uhhh - isn't draw, like any kind of spin, accomplished by follow through?

If you can't draw the ball with an Ebony cue, the problem is in
your stroke.

Dale(formerly able to draw on demand)
Click to expand...

Maple has a good bit of spring action to it. Ebony does not.
There is definitely a difference.

Chris (Still able to draw on demand) Well usually anyway. :smile:
 
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JerseyBill said:
Do I detect a curly shaft in the picture? Some of those hit real good.
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I don't use a curly shaft myself, but I just finished a hard curl shaft for a customer who has some of my cues. I put a softer higher action ferrule on it and he reported back to me that it shot the cue ball straighter than his Predator shaft. I am still unsure if it is the ferrule or the shaft or a combo of the two that did the trick for him. I don't use the high action ferrule on my shafts either. I found that once everyone went to the fast cloth, I was drawing the cue ball too far so I switched to a harder linen melamine ferrule.
 
cueman said:
I don't use a curly shaft myself, but I just finished a hard curl shaft for a customer who has some of my cues. I put a softer higher action ferrule on it and he reported back to me that it shot the cue ball straighter than his Predator shaft. I am still unsure if it is the ferrule or the shaft or a combo of the two that did the trick for him. I don't use the high action ferrule on my shafts either. I found that once everyone went to the fast cloth, I was drawing the cue ball too far so I switched to a harder linen melamine ferrule.
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What is the names of some softer, higher action ferrule materials?
 
shankster8 said:
What is the names of some softer, higher action ferrule materials?
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The one I used was made out of some really nice ABS. These are no longer available and I have not found much that compares to it.
Most softer ferrule materials will produce more spin. But too soft becomes spongey. Like Polyurethane for instance is too soft in all the standard hardnesses. Most other multi polymer plastics will give you more spin, but some have down sides with noise and such. The Ivory colored ferrules I sell are a softer plastic that would be medium high action. The Meucci ferrule material are really high action, but hard to come by.
I sell a slip on type of ferrule that produces high action, but can only get it in the tube form and I like ferrules solid capped for strength. I am currently out of stock on them now.
 
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