What are the advantages of a steel joint?

[Catamount]

All my cues, except for one, have flat face wood-to-wood joints. I like the way they play and feel very much. My experience with steel joints is limited to a few McDermotts, and I have not been very impressed. They lack the feel, and sense of connection to the cue ball, that I get with wood-to-wood.

Having said this, I know that a number of highly regarded cuemakers use steel joints. Obviously, they see some advantage, or they wouldn't use them.

 

[whammo57]

I see no advantage.............. just another material and another look.......

Kim

 

[KJ Cues]

Unfortunately, since your only experience with a steel jnt has been with McD cues,
you really haven't experienced a true SS jnt. The McD SS jnt is an oddity and unique.
It's not a good example of SS jnt construction in that the pin is an extension of the
jnt. collar itself and doesn't extend into the forearm. It's basically a cap with a pin on top.
I'd suggest you try several other SS-jnted cues to broaden your search.
You may actually like them.

HTHs, KJ

 

[Bavafongoul]

A steel cue joint will have a firm hit. How firm depends on the shaft tips, ferrule material & length, shaft weight & wood type, shaft size and taper and of course the cue joint.
But just accept that a steel cue joint by design starts with a firm hit and all the other variables I referred to determines why some cues play much firmer....rock hard....& some
play softer but with a firm hit nonetheless. Steel will never play like wood to wood.....nothing will.......those two cue joints are on the opposite end of the spectrum when it
comes to the firmness & feel of the cue hit.........in my opinion.

Matt B.

 

[cammel8]

All my cues, except for one, have flat face wood-to-wood joints. I like the way they play and feel very much. My experience with steel joints is limited to a few McDermotts, and I have not been very impressed. They lack the feel, and sense of connection to the cue ball, that I get with wood-to-wood.

Having said this, I know that a number of highly regarded cuemakers use steel joints. Obviously, they see some advantage, or they wouldn't use them.

There are several benefits. One obvious one is balance. By using a weight in the butt end of the cue it becomes back heavy. By using ss joint in conjunction with butt weight, you can distribute the weight more evenly across the whole cue and not have to worry so much about coring and wood selection to distribute the weight.

The second is feel. Some people believe by putting in a ss joint, you deaden the vibrations at the joint and dont feel them as much in the butt like you do with wood to wood. This alows you to hit more "crisp". I do not agree but some do.

The third is strength. Some people believe that a ss joint makes the joint less likely to fail or crack.

The fourth is aesthetics. Some people just like the look.

So there are some reasons, however; the most comon is weight distribution.