what is the difference between 3 cushion billiard cue and regular pool cue?

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pinoyincalgary

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Watched semi saygner and amazed how much spin he can place on the ball.

Just wondering what is the difference in specs between 3 cushion cue and regular pool cue? Or is ot the same cue? If they are different, Is it taper, ferrule, balance, tip, length, etc that makes it different? Thank you.
 
The billiard balls are also different, I think they are a touch larger, and the setup of the table is a bit different. I have not played much 3C but seems it's faster than a pool table.
 
hang-the-9 said:
The billiard balls are also different, I think they are a touch larger, and the setup of the table is a bit different. I have not played much 3C but seems it's faster than a pool table.
Click to expand...

They are larger and heavier.

Roughly 2.4" in diameter vs. American Pool balls at 2.25"
And roughly 7-8 oz vs 5-6 oz

1024px-Billiard_ball_comparison.jpg


Cue balls from (left to right):
Russian pool and kaisa—68 mm (2 11⁄16 in)
Carom—61.5 mm (2 7⁄16 in)
American-style pool—57 mm (2 1⁄4 in)
British-style pool (largish) —56 mm (2 3⁄16 in)
Snooker—52.5 mm (2 1⁄15 in)
Scaled-down pool—51 mm (2 in) for children's smaller tables
 
Compared to the average pool cue a 3-cushion cue is/has:

- a little lighter
- a little shorter
- a lot stiffer
- a shorter ferrule
- a smaller tip

gr. Dave
 
Double-Dave said:
Compared to the average pool cue a 3-cushion cue is/has:

- a little lighter
- a little shorter
- a lot stiffer
- a shorter ferrule
- a smaller tip

gr. Dave
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say they have a smaller tip. Most carom cues, that I've seen, have 13mm - 14mm tips.
 
hang-the-9 said:
The billiard balls are also different, I think they are a touch larger, and the setup of the table is a bit different. I have not played much 3C but seems it's faster than a pool table.
Click to expand...

faster cloth paired with heated tables, makes em hella fast, light smooth stroke will take you 4 rails over a 10 ft table with ease
 
Anybody ever tried using a 3 cushion billiard cue to play pocket pool? What did u find difficult and easier compared to using a regular pool cue?
 
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pinoyincalgary said:
Anybody ever tried using a 3 cushion billiard cue to play pocket pool? What did u find difficult and easier compared to using a regular pool cue?
Click to expand...

no only because I dont have a carom cue only shafts
I have used my pool cues playing 3c though
the deflection is noticeable

for now I play 3c with a kilby shaft on my jerry olivier cue
 
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some average measures of usual carom cues :

collar/joint diameter is 22.0mm , and at the buttcap it's 32mm.

carom cues are mostly wrapless, and we usually cover them with a rubber or silicon wrap, removable.

ferrules are small, usually 5-8mm. rarely more than 12mm. Most are uncapped, but you can find capped. Ivory ferrules for carom don't mean "high end" , and they are verrry rarely used -at least in europe-.

shafts taper are mostly conical (or almost) , even we can now find some much more relaxed taper (see Longoni's Eiffel taper)

for straight rail/ balkline : weight 460g to 500g , length 140cm , tip diameter from 11m to 11.5mm

for 3C : weight 520g to 540g , length 142cm , tip diameter 11.5 to 12.0mm

for 5 pins : length 142cm , heavy (weight 700-750g) , but we already know that's a weird discipline :)

note than the "low deflection" concept is almost unknown in the carom discipline , even Predator/molinari tries to wash our brains :). no magical chalk myth too , the most used here in Europe are master and blue diamond.
many carom players, when using layered tips, tend to remove from 2 to 4 layers, & mostly do the tip install themself .
 
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erriep said:
some average measures of usual carom cues :

collar/joint diameter is 22.0mm , and at the buttcap it's 32mm.

carom cues are mostly wrapless, and we usually cover them with a rubber or silicon wrap, removable.

ferrules are small, usually 5-8mm. rarely more than 12mm. Most are uncapped, but you can find capped. Ivory ferrules for carom don't mean "high end" , and they are verrry rarely used -at least in europe-.

shafts taper are mostly conical (or almost) , even we can now find some much more relaxed taper (see Longoni's Eiffel taper)

for straight rail/ balkline : weight 460g to 500g , length 140cm , tip diameter from 11m to 11.5mm

for 3C : weight 520g to 540g , length 142cm , tip diameter 11.5 to 12.0mm

for 5 pins : length 142cm , heavy (weight 700-750g) , but we already know that's a weird discipline :)

note than the "low deflection" concept is almost unknown in the carom discipline , even Predator/molinari tries to wash our brains :). no magical chalk myth too , the most used here in Europe are master and blue diamond.
many carom players, when using layered tips, tend to remove from 2 to 4 layers, & mostly do the tip install themself .
Click to expand...

Whoa...great info. Thanks !
 
DAVE_M said:
I wouldn't say they have a smaller tip. Most carom cues, that I've seen, have 13mm - 14mm tips.
Click to expand...

Yea they do, more like 10 to maybe 11.5 mm. They are also much lighter then a pool cue as light as 13 and 14 ounces. Surprisingly they are often much shorter like 52 or 54 inches.

I had a program from a world championship that Sang Lee gave me. It had profiles of all the players along with their cues. I could not believe the dimensions some of them played with especially the Japanese.
 
I believe the shorter carom cues with the 10 or 11mm tips are for what the Europeans call "the small games," straight-rail and cushion caroms. For 3C you need a little more lumber. I also have two Kilby shafts, both with 12mm tips.
 
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