Why 2 Shafts?

First off, why not?? When I started playing seriously a lot of people had two shafts. I saw very few people who played a lot of pool with only one shaft. It was fairly common in the early/mid '70s for tips to come off in the middle of a game. Also, with only one shaft you had to wait for a tip to be put on or have other work done. With a second shaft you could switch and keep on playing. Most of my cues have been ordered with two shafts or, if they were bought off the rack, so to speak, I added shafts after owning the cue a while. I had a Palmer with four shafts back in the day and currently my 20 year old Dishaw has four. It seems to be hard to get two shafts made exactly the same but I've always tried to get them as close as possible. With my Dishaw these days it depends on how "puffy" my fingers feel. If the larger shafts feel too big, I'll switch to a smaller one. Some people used to have one shaft for Straight Pool and another for 9 ball. I never subscribed to that theory myself.
I've heard a lot of people in the last twenty years or so say that you should have one shaft that has never been played with as a selling point but I've never had a problem with having both/all my shafts used. I think that's a myth. I've never has someone say to me: "Gee, if you had one shaft that wasn't played with, I'd buy it but I guess I'll pass." I've never had a problem with selling any of my cues.
Personally, I've always thought it made good sense to have more than one shaft and I do think than having two is a good selling point.
 
TATE said:
It's for us really BIG money players. If your tip pops off in the middle of a big money match, you can screw the second shaft on and proceed to protect your investment. You only need the 2nd shaft if you play for really big money, which almost everybody here on AZ does.
Click to expand...

I must spread more rep around before giving this fantastic statement more green!!!

~~~~~~~

Seriously though, I untill recently, I would break, and jump with my player as well. If you blow a tip off, it's nice to have the extra shaft. I like to have them match as close as possible, but my brain tells me the one plays better....

All the best
 
You definitely need 2 shafts! If I play a set of 1 pocket I need my high deflection shaft so I can do
certain monster spin moves with the cue ball that would be impossible with my predator.

Then if we switch to a set of 9 ball I put on my predator because I need to make long shots
and play low-deflection safes that are impossible with anything stiffer than a meucci red dot.

If we play Keno I use my Tiger shaft with my milkdud Kamui Venti Latte so I can put maximum
stay-in-the-divot spin on my banks.
 
Well, I used to always have at least a spare shaft with me in the case, and more than likely a few more at home for my playing cue. But recently I've been playing with a cue that only came with a single shaft and let me tell you, what a headache, I've been dying to pick up a second shaft. Tip wears out, out for a few days until I can get to a cue repairman that I can trust, ferrule cracks, out till the weekend, bad choice on a tip gotta wait again. It's just been a PITA. Have had to borrow cues to finish matches. Anyways, second shaft good.
 
SC02GTP said:
First, I think you need to control that temper and not destroy cues.....it didn't do anything to you and you should respect your investments.

I have three shafts with my Tascarella. I like different ones for different games. They are all unique in how they feel and hit. I use one for 8/9 ball because it seems to spin the cue ball better than the others and I have one that I like for one pocket because it feels stiffer. One is for back up and is mainly not used and is a back up to either of the other two.

I would say a second shaft is a good investment. If you have a tip come off of your main shaft, you just switch to the back up and roll on. You can have your main playing shaft getting tipped and never have any down time. Another idea is to have two shafts with different tapers for different games. Just an option.

Personally, I like to spend time with each shaft and decide which one feels the best and use it as my main. Wood is wood and has a great variation from piece to piece. Sometimes, one shaft just feels better than another.......
Click to expand...

that's what she said
 
d.p said:
I don't understand why people have two shafts... I have a 1x2 case and now I feel that I need another matching shaft for my cue.

Some people told me they have two identical shafts for when the first one is wearing down they switch to the other.

Another person(my father) said he had two different tips on the same kind of shaft.

Last person said that they had a standard shaft and a LD shaft.

I like the idea of having a back up shaft because I'm known to break cues and I think it'd be great to have a shaft being repaired and not having a cue down.

What do y'all think?
Click to expand...
I often wonder this myself. Most of my cues have two shafts. The one relatively high end cue that I own that only has one shaft seems like the misfit.

Even my lower end cues have two shafts (e.g., a merry widow RAT cue, two shafts). I have around 10 shafts for my Schuler. But, I have four Schulers, and all shafts fit all butts. Why so many shafts? Because I'm insane apparently.

Freddie <~~~ member of Shaft Buyers Anonymous
 
TATE said:
It's for us really BIG money players. If your tip pops off in the middle of a big money match, you can screw the second shaft on and proceed to protect your investment. You only need the 2nd shaft if you play for really big money, which almost everybody here on AZ does.
Click to expand...


When the money is that BIG I have two identical cues, each one with three identical shafts, six identical tips monitored by a continuous readout Shore D durometer gauge, and an assistant with a Willard and a mushroom tool shaping tips as I switch out shafts from game to game.
If the money is really really BIG I bring a portable lathe with me.
 
I bought mine as a back up and just in case the guy who I had make my cue retires ( or God forbid, dies) I have a extra shaft if one of them should break.
 
I actually prefer to have one shaft. For two reasons:

1. I make enough choices about stuff.

2. If I need to get out of a trap, I simply pop my tip off when no one is looking and say "oh so sorry, my tip came off, I can't play anymore!"

:thumbup:
 
Last edited:
Cornerman said:
I often wonder this myself. Most of my cues have two shafts. The one relatively high end cue that I own that only has one shaft seems like the misfit.

Even my lower end cues have two shafts (e.g., a merry widow RAT cue, two shafts). I have around 10 shafts for my Schuler. But, I have four Schulers, and all shafts fit all butts. Why so many shafts? Because I'm insane apparently.

Freddie <~~~ member of Shaft Buyers Anonymous
Click to expand...

Man who walk in pool room with 8 shafts no get played.
 
Main reason I have an extra shaft is in case a tip breaks off in a tournament. That happened to me years ago and players were allowed to only use the cue equipment they brought to the table and the chalk and bridge at each table. No extra shaft meant shooting the rest of that match with my jump/break cue.
 
I forgot I had ordered 2 shafts for my custom, my cue maker got the butt and 1 shaft ready for me so I could enter JB's case contest.... Whoops, guess I need to be more patient.
 
poolguy4u said:
:shakehead:

No two shafts are ever identical. You will always like one better than the other.:yes:
Click to expand...

If you are lucky you might get 2 shafts that are close to each other in how they play, but you won't find 2 identical shafts and one of them will be your favorite.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top