Which ferrule material should I choose?

C

Chris

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
As my cue nears completion, I have to make some decisions. One of these is ferrule material.

The two materials currently being considered are Ivorine3 and the "old Meucci material."

Things I am considering are hit (softer is preferred) and durability. Does anyone have any opinions or input that I might consider before making a decision? Thanks in advance.
 
Chris said:
As my cue nears completion, I have to make some decisions. One of these is ferrule material.

The two materials currently being considered are Ivorine3 and the "old Meucci material."

Things I am considering are hit (softer is preferred) and durability. Does anyone have any opinions or input that I might consider before making a decision? Thanks in advance.
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Stag horn.
 
Chris said:
As my cue nears completion, I have to make some decisions. One of these is ferrule material.

The two materials currently being considered are Ivorine3 and the "old Meucci material."

Things I am considering are hit (softer is preferred) and durability. Does anyone have any opinions or input that I might consider before making a decision? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I really like the LBM ferrules.
 
I gave up custom matching jp's in order to get ivory ferrules, wanting to pair up with an ivory joint. I am told (this is my first cue with ivory ferrules) that they provided a 'softer' hit/feel, and are not prone to staining.

Lisa
 
Chris said:
As my cue nears completion, I have to make some decisions. One of these is ferrule material.

The two materials currently being considered are Ivorine3 and the "old Meucci material."

Things I am considering are hit (softer is preferred) and durability. Does anyone have any opinions or input that I might consider before making a decision? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
You also need to know what kind of installation the cue maker uses. Fore example if the tenon goes all the way through and is say 11/32 or 3/8 it will be different then a ferrule that is mounted on a 5/16 threaded tenon with a solid cap even if made of the same material.

Me personally I like a ferrule with a large tenon all the way through so the tip is glued on the end of the wood shaft. Before I was doing my own work I had a cue maker tell me he would not guarantee the ferrule made that way. I told him I didn't care as far as I was concerned the ferrule was expendable I was more concerned with the play on the cue. By the way, I have never had a ferrule break, but should it break who cares it is an easy fix.
 
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ridewiththewind said:
I gave up custom matching jp's in order to get ivory ferrules, wanting to pair up with an ivory joint. I am told (this is my first cue with ivory ferrules) that they provided a 'softer' hit/feel, and are not prone to staining.

Lisa
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Can anyone corroborate that ivory ferrules provide a softer hit (compared to Ivorine3)?

Thanks for the responses so far, everyone.
 
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You should be elephant friendly. Ivory is somewhat brittle and I would only want it on a high end cue that wouldn't be played with. The man made materials are far superior for ferrule use. The softest hit will be the plastic Meucci type material. I would not use this though on my playing cue because it just has a far greater chance of cracking. My choice would be Aegis. It looks very, very close to ivory, plays wonderful, is extremely durable and hits soft. Especially if you do as the post above said and have the tenon go all the way through. My personal cue has Grice, which can't be bought anymore. Its almost a duplicate of Aegis...very hard to tell the difference. I want the soft hit in my personal cue as well...if I built a new one today for me...I'd have the Aegis with a 1/4 tenon completey through with a Sniper tip (Moori S - 2nd choice).
Ivory is not the softest hitting material (in fact some believe the opposite) and will provide no benefit to your cue other than making it worth slightly more upon resale. Hope this helps.

Edited to add: I did not mention Ivorine 3 simply because all of the Ivorine 3 rod I've purchased has been full of trash. Its properties are similar to Aegis so if you get a clean piece, it'd be fine. The new Ivorine 4 is much much harder.
 
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Chris said:
Can anyone corroborate that ivory ferrules provide a softer hit (compared to Ivorine3)?

Thanks for the responses so far, everyone.
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Ivory is NOT a soft material and using ivory as a ferrule material does not result in a soft hit. Ivory is stronger than wood and it is beautiful. Before phenolics ivory was the only material (in my opinion) really suited for ferrules.

There are other synthetic materials on the market that work well but they all have their problems. Some get dirty very easy. Some don't glue well. Some are not very strong. Some scratch easily.

In my opinion Melamine works well and hits about the same as ivory because both materials are hard and a little brittle. With either of these materials it is imperative that you don't let the tip wear down so much that the ferrule can get damaged.

Good luck with your new cue :)
 
Soft hit ....

I can't understand why he wants a 'soft hit?. It is pretty common that the more experienced a player becomes, the more they go towards a medium hard to hard tip because the overall performance is better.

Just because your first cue may have had a 'soft hit' does not mean that is what you should stick with FOR LIFE. You should test other cues and types of tips.

Good test shots:

1) Shoot long straight in and draw back 2 inches. Shoot the same shot and follow 2 inches.
2) Shoot long almost straight in shot, and draw back a table length.
3) Put ball on long rail, middle diamond uptable, put cue ball on foot spot.
Make the ball in the corner, and go 3 rails with cue ball back down table.
Shoot the same shot, and try to draw the cue ball 3 rails.

All your shots will not be easy, and a tip can make the difference between getting there or not.
 
ferrule material

Chris said:
As my cue nears completion, I have to make some decisions. One of these is ferrule material.

The two materials currently being considered are Ivorine3 and the "old Meucci material."

Things I am considering are hit (softer is preferred) and durability. Does anyone have any opinions or input that I might consider before making a decision? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I'm not qualified to detail the differences between the various man made materials. As mentioned earlier the choice of tip will make more of a difference than the ferrule material IMO.

Have ordered two customs in the past 3 years. Tim Scruggs recommended ivory as his first choice with Melamine a second choice. Andy Gilbert seemed more concerned with durability and suggested melamine. I chose both of their first suggestions. Have had zero problems with either but slightly prefer the feel/hit of ivory. Both stay relatively free from chalk stain, especially the ivory.:)

Have heard several knowlegeable AZBers speak highly of Ivorine III.
 
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Chris said:
As my cue nears completion, I have to make some decisions. One of these is ferrule material.

The two materials currently being considered are Ivorine3 and the "old Meucci material."

Things I am considering are hit (softer is preferred) and durability. Does anyone have any opinions or input that I might consider before making a decision? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

If you want a soft hit, I would say go with the "old Meucci material" (actually it's PVC)

I have an old Meucci "Road Agent" cue with two shafts both with the original ferrules and a bazillion hours of use on it, and other than tip replacements, I have never had any problems with the ferrules (or any other component of the cue).

I have an Ivorine 3 ferrule on one of my break/jump cues and it the hit is hard (good for a break / jump). Ivorine 3 seems to attract chalk and dirt like a magnet, and is a real pain in the butt to keep clean.
 
I like Melamine ferrules. My Capone has them. They hit hard, stay clean dont "plink" like ivory ferrules do.
 
Micarta. Yes I'm aware of if Hazardous! But let see Blue Grass (Richard Harris), Dpk, Southwest, and Schon, just to mention a few use Micarta still or at one time. Their cues say it all.
 
billiardshot...you are speaking of old micarta. The old stuff was indeed the best playing ferrule material ever...the new stuff like what Atlas offers is totally different and not desirable. Some cuemakers are not fortunate enough to have any stock of the old version. The only problem with the old version is it turns extremely yellow.
 
Snapshot9 said:
I can't understand why he wants a 'soft hit?. It is pretty common that the more experienced a player becomes, the more they go towards a medium hard to hard tip because the overall performance is better.

Just because your first cue may have had a 'soft hit' does not mean that is what you should stick with FOR LIFE. You should test other cues and types of tips.

Good test shots:

1) Shoot long straight in and draw back 2 inches. Shoot the same shot and follow 2 inches.
2) Shoot long almost straight in shot, and draw back a table length.
3) Put ball on long rail, middle diamond uptable, put cue ball on foot spot.
Make the ball in the corner, and go 3 rails with cue ball back down table.
Shoot the same shot, and try to draw the cue ball 3 rails.

All your shots will not be easy, and a tip can make the difference between getting there or not.
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I should be more specific. I'm not dissatisfied with the hit of my Frey SP, which has what appears to be (not sure) an Ivor-X ferrule, and (now) a Moori Medium tip, but I wouldn't really want it to be any harder. Slightly softer would be okay. However, I don't want the more frequent shapings of a soft tip, so if the hit is to be softened, it should be with the ferrule.

I'm actually hoping for a happy medium, but I would rather err on the softer side than the harder side. I've never owned a soft hitting cue, but am always impressed with the pleasant feel when I try one.

I'm pretty sure that my game is not to the point where tip or ferrule choice will make or break it. :) I've been beaten by players using both harder and softer tips, and with both harder and softer hitting cues.
 
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