This comment of yours is very interesting to me, I don't obviously know what you know but here I am trying to know it if that makes any sense.
You say to figure out the weight of the butt you want, then try to figure the weight of the shaft in relation to the butt and that there is a certain preferable ratio? now is this ratio for everybody? Now to add complexity to the question even further, what happens if a guy use the mid-section extension, CueMax or Balance rite, these things come as 2 inch to 3 inches and add some weight in the middle of the cue which also gives you a feeling of a sort of forward-balance, now does this adds to the ratio equation or not?
It really is more simple than that. Others may disagree with what I am saying but here goes.
There is a weight proportionality between the two halves of a two piece pool cue. Everyone
knows there is a shaft and butt that comprise the cue’s total assembled weight. The ratio of
the shaft’s weight is very important to how the cue feels. Match a light weight shaft to a heavy
cue butt and the resulting feel is usually crappy. Now keep in mind the feel of a cue is subjective.
I have owned a lot of cues but not nearly as many as some. I have also had a fair share of cues
built and along the way, spoken with lots of cue makers but again, not nearly as many, or as much,
as some others. IMO there is a weight ratio between the shaft and cue butt. Shafts that weigh less
than 18% of the cue’s weight don’t play as well as shafts above 18%. The ideal is 22-23% and as
far as the butt is concerned, this ratio presumes the butt doesn’t have a hunk of metal shoved in it.
Weight bolts absolutely do affect the way a cue feels and one smaller bolt, or several of equivalent
total combined weight positioned in the butt, is preferable to just one single bolt screwed in the bottom.
I know about wood shafts & size & taper, etc., and the weight ratio applies whether the shaft is 12.5mm
or 13.2mm. So if you have a cue butt weighing a specific weight, you should try and match a shaft that
falls within the aforementioned weight ratios. This applies to maple shafts & CF shafts are an exception.