I play with 13MM and change out shafts at around 12.6MM. It is just what I prefer. I think one should play with what works for them. Some people have small hands and some have huge hands ect. As far as 13 being the standard it has already been stated that you can always take it down but cannot add. Why is that not logical or rational. When you wear one out just send your cue out and have a new one made to the diameter you want. I feel english has way more to do with the tip and stroke than shaft size.
What's so great about 13mm shafts?
- Thread starter PhilosopherKing
- Start date
Actually 12.75 mm shaft dia is critical if you aim like SVB, he uses shaft center, and outer edges, and fractions shaft dia. For example for straight shots all shafts work no difference in aiming. For 1/2 ball hit, SVB uses say the right edge of shaft pointed at the ob exact aim spot from the pocket (easy to find not the ghost aim), if he had 14 mm shaft, and did the same thing he would under cut, or if he had 11 he would over cut. I think someone find out that 12.75 is the perfect dia to have the edge line up for 1/2 ball hit. Hope this answers barryc question..too
I have a 13.3mm shaft, and I will play $1 a shot with just about anybody on "stroke shots"
Like playing horse on the pool table LOL
13mm shafts
barryc
That's very, good wish I could do it consistently with any size shaft. Too bad there is no one who plays like that around here maybe I could learn something. But as I said in the post "if it works use it". The question was why the 13mm shaft diameter "standard" and what I was trying to say is I don't see a logical reason other than preference or resale value. The comparison to snooker was merely a point that even "scaled up" proportionally for the bigger and heavier ball, pool shaft still wouldn't be 13mm. If I could run centuries even with a 13mm shaft then that's what I would do as well.
barryc
People are all different. As far as cues most could not tell you within 1/2 mm what size a shafts is in my experience, they don't even know what they like. Especially when they bring me a shaft they say is 12.5 and it is 12.75. They are almost never right about the weight of their cues off by as much as half ounce or more.
Yet they think they know what they like and don't even know what the cue they are playing with is. Guys order cues and are very specific in the order. The shaft must be 12.8 mm and weight must be 19,2 and so on. Half these guys I think are nuts.
Out of curiosity, how long have you been playing pool? You have never played with different dimensions then you currently use? Heck, I used to play with a 13.5 mm shaft and 20 ounce cue. That was what my friend Danny D. played with so that is what I got. I loved it and used those dimensions for years.
I eventually went to a thinner shaft and lighter cue and have to admit, I would not like to play now with one of my old cues. Danny D. himself also for many years now has played with a lighter cue and thinner shaft.
When he went to the smaller shaft he commented his game went up, he said for the first time in years he felt like he had improved, he was a little shocked. He said he remembered Lassiter saying " I don't understand how you guys from NY can play with those fat shafts". Turned out, at least for Danny, Lassiter was right.
I have to say though watching Danny sanding away at his Szamboti cue shafts was a little nerve racking. There was no cue maker involved, just Danny and 100 sand paper.
Many cue makers are uncomfortable making a shaft much below 13 mm due to increasing the potential of warping. The shaft size had nothing to do with being able to apply side English. It's really a matter of personal preference. I have smaller hands and prefer the look of a 11.75 mm shaft, I use an ob 2. However, I have no major issue playing with a 13 mm shaft either.
There are more options out there than you can shake a stick at. I buy my custom cues with 12.75 or 13 mm shafts then put the ob 2 on them to play. If I ever sell the cue, the original shafts are in perfect condition.
There are more options out there than you can shake a stick at. I buy my custom cues with 12.75 or 13 mm shafts then put the ob 2 on them to play. If I ever sell the cue, the original shafts are in perfect condition.
It has nothing to do with playability. It is all about sellability.
I started with a 12-1/2mm shaft, but later went to 13mm and have been there ever since. I like the fact that it is less "whippy" on off-center shots, and that the larger diameter gives me a little larger patch area between the tip and the cue ball. I also like the fact that I don't have to wrap the index finger of my bridge hand around the shaft so much in order to take up the slop. The cue just feels more stable in my hands.
Roger
Roger
so, if the size of the tip has nothing to do with the application of english, (not taking into account possible sighting difficulties) does this mean a 9mm tip has the same number of possible contact points with the cue ball as an 11mm tip, 13mm tip, and 15mm tip? or, is it that those in-between locations are negligible?
No, the secondary market doesn't dictate anything, but why ruin the value of a cue if you don't have to.
I never thought about shaft diameters vs. the value of used cues until I got on AZ.
Also, turning down a shaft can create more serious problems than the value, and I've seen some real unhappy people after they've had their shaft turned down by so-called professionals.
Not every shaft can be thrown on a lathe and shaved down, it doesn't always work that way.
Collectors like 13mm cause the shafts shrink over time. I use the 11.75 shaft from Tiger on my SW cue and I really like it now I have the same shaft on another on of my cues with a 3/8-10 joint and it was really stiff cause it is really thick with a lot of wood and then tapers down to the 11.75.
When I sent the Tiger shaft to SW so they could match the rings they put their own taper on it that made it less stiff and made it a better playing one pocket shaft in my opinion. I am using this shaft and it plays great but I already was playing with 12.25 so it was not that big of an adjustment. Both Tiger shafts I have in 11.75 are 30 inches in length the extra inch I have found I like a lot. Tiger's tips are some of the best I have used and they just last forever. I am using the onyx.
When I sent the Tiger shaft to SW so they could match the rings they put their own taper on it that made it less stiff and made it a better playing one pocket shaft in my opinion. I am using this shaft and it plays great but I already was playing with 12.25 so it was not that big of an adjustment. Both Tiger shafts I have in 11.75 are 30 inches in length the extra inch I have found I like a lot. Tiger's tips are some of the best I have used and they just last forever. I am using the onyx.
would you say that the average cue coming out of barry's shop today will see the same amount and kind of use as the average cue that came out of gus' shop 35 years ago has seen?
I would say far less
does the secondary market play a role?
if you play with a 12.25mm shaft and your spot comes up with searing or south west, even if you fully intend on playing with the cue and not reselling it, what size are the shafts going to be?
No, I think that back in the day when guys were selling their Palmer's and buying Gus Szamboti's, they were buying them to play with, and nobody knew how valuable they would become.
The market is completely different now, especially when it comes to Szamboti's, Barry or Gus.
Don't confuse cue collecting with the dreaded "secondary market"