Why I never bought one....

[TheBook]

It doesn't even look like wood. It looks like those hard tubes rolled from paper. But then if it was the hole would be in the center. :yeah:

 

[sfleinen]

Predator's version of "Black Dot"?

I would be interested to know what the performance difference would be given the off-centerednessicity. I would be mildly surprised, were it perceptible.

Well then, perhaps Predator hit upon a new product and marketing blitz; [...drum roll...] the Predator "Black Dot" -- rotate the cue until the black dot is on top! :thumbup:

(Just kidding, of course.)

 

[bandido]

If you look really closely you can see that the angle of the chamfer isn't consistent or clean, it might have been done after the fact but why, that hole is huge.

Anyone who has seen the interior of the front end of a Predator shaft a few times knows that THAT hole is huge, which is why I personally couldn't recognize if that was the joint or tenon end of the shaft.

I'd say that the cutting was done by manually sawing the shaft. And deburred manually too. You have to remember too that that's a used shaft so it may have been sanded down and the reason for the proportion being off. One other thing I've noticed is that ferrule looks like it's close to about 7/8" long if that tip diameter is approx. 12.5mm

One thing I don't understand though is that at times those holes are filled with foam while others are not.

 

[AuntyDan]

It doesn't even look like wood. It looks like those hard tubes rolled from paper. But then if it was the hole would be in the center. :yeah:

You know, every year I help my son make paper rockets for the cub scouts. You just roll up a sheet of regular paper and then coat it with Elmer's glue over and over again until it gets real stiff. I bet with the right engineering you could absolutely make a shaft out of laminated paper and either glue or a resin.

 

[Fuji-whopper]

Is it a used shaft? They look pretty new to me judging by the lack of scratches on the ferrule, no chalk on the tip and no bluing of the shaft especially on the close-up shot.

 

[bandido]

You know what? With that ferrule on there, as clean as it is and its non-Predator dimension to boot, I'm suspecting that whoever cuemaker(or not) showed Pistol Pete this has taken him for a ride. What caused him, the cuemaker or not, to saw off a perfectly good condition shaft?

 

[Fuji-whopper]

Well you said they are a high-end cue buyer, so I guess they have money to burn cutting up shafts instead of X-raying them. Curious to see what cuemaker/dealer did that kind of research yet doesn't want their name on their "discovery".

Plus why mention it now? Those pictures are about two years old if Pistol Pat is right, so why bring this to light at this point in time?

 

[Cheez Dawg]

Here is a pic of a failed OB1 I had a while back. Royce graciously honoured their warranty, and replaced it NO QUESTIONS ASKED!!!

 

[JoeyA]

The Journey

There have been a number of people who have reported shafts from different manufacturers to be drilled off center. Whatever the reason for these errors, customers are not getting what they pay for.

The high tech shafts should be also of HIGH QUALITY and some of them apparently or not.

While the jury is still out, the silence of different manufacturers speaks loudly. It is not enough that manufacturers will replace defective HIGH-TECH shafts, imo. I hope that this forum will serve as an awakening for all manufacturers to pay attention to their fawning target audience and improve their quality control.

No customer should have to wonder whether their shaft is perfectly symmetrical or if the holes are drilled correctly.

In my case, I have had to go through many steps to obtain my high-tech shaft. First, I purchase a blank high-tech shaft (because my cue maker uses custom threads), secondly I have the shaft coated with Shaft Freeze then shipped to the final cue maker who matches the rings with my existing playing shafts and taps the special threads, then after finishing the cue, it arrives back in my hands.

If after all this, I find out that the shaft is drilled poorly and the manufacturer simply is willing to give me a new blank, I would want to grind my teeth. The time and the expense is not the only angst that I would have. In addition, I would feel betrayed and made a fool of by the manufacturer.

Customers should not have to send their shafts to be X-rayed to determine if they have a correctly drilled hole in their shaft.

I thank the original poster for starting this thread. It appears that this is not an isolated situation and hope that high-tech manufacturers will start a new quality control program to prevent these type of problems from arriving in the market place.

JoeyA

 

[Fuji-whopper]

Well Joey, I have ties with both companies and have a longer/deeper history with one than the other obviously. Right now these accusations are unfounded which is why I haven't told the Predator Group about it yet, Tiger has already chimed in with their response.

That's the thing Joey, I KNOW Predator didn't bore shafts till the last step to ensure the hole being centered. If this was truly a 1st generation shaft then I was working there and the whole, bad quality due to made in China, doesn't fly.

It's one person casting stones, is it worthy for thousands of people to spend thousands of dollars and a major manufacturer to change techniques? These accusations are unfounded as of yet the way I see it, if it picks up more gravity and has some empirical proof then it would be time to call in the big guns.

 

[JoeyA]

Well Joey, I have ties with both companies and have a longer/deeper history with one than the other obviously. Right now these accusations are unfounded which is why I haven't told the Predator Group about it yet, Tiger has already chimed in with their response.

That's the thing Joey, I KNOW Predator didn't bore shafts till the last step to ensure the hole being centered. If this was truly a 1st generation shaft then I was working there and the whole, bad quality due to made in China, doesn't fly.

It's one person casting stones, is it worthy for thousands of people to spend thousands of dollars and a major manufacturer to change techniques? These accusations are unfounded as of yet the way I see it, if it picks up more gravity and has some empirical proof then it would be time to call in the big guns.

Neil, it seems that it is more than one person is sending in photographs and reports. While this isn't empirical proof, it appears to be more than one person making a report.

If it is one person with multiple identities making false reports, I would hope all of the companies would take legal action against that person. I wouldn't want anyone messing with my "good & honest" business.

I'm sure that the "big guns" know about this thread and are watching it carefully and think they should be for multiple reasons.

I don't like to hear unsubstantiated negative things about companies or individuals but will look forward to more reports from the field.

A response from the big guns would be nice as well.

Thanks!
JoeyA

 

[Fuji-whopper]

You're right Joey, the thing that strikes me as odd and hasn't been answered is how come the pictures were taken in 2007 but we haven't heard/seen them till now?

 

[IA8baller]

As a casual observer to this post at this time I'm not totally convinced one way or the other yet. I do think this could be a very isolated incident of a quality issue with manufacturers, but you know you'll hear about the one bad incident before you'll hear about 100 good ones.

BTW, I do play with a Predator 314-2 and probably will for life. :thumbup:

 

[PetToilet]

Here is a pic of a failed OB1 I had a while back. Royce graciously honoured their warranty, and replaced it NO QUESTIONS ASKED!!!

:clapping: yay everybody equal now.

maybe i shouldn't get a LD shaft.

my only hope is the thin Z2 OB-2, im sure they have to be a lot more accurate with those!

 

[JoeyA]

You're right Joey, the thing that strikes me as odd and hasn't been answered is how come the pictures were taken in 2007 but we haven't heard/seen them till now?

Maybe the original poster will answer that question. I'm curious myself.
Why now and not then?
JoeyA

 

[Fuji-whopper]

Hmmm no response from the rock thrower, guess he/she got bored and decided not to cut up anymore shafts. It's a shame since I was looking forward to seeing a McDermott I-shaft, Universal smart shaft and Dominiak Dominator cut in half too.

 

[GMAC]

Amazing

:clapping: yay everybody equal now.

maybe i shouldn't get a LD shaft.

my only hope is the thin Z2 OB-2, im sure they have to be a lot more accurate with those!

I don't know much about woodwork but how can these LD companies be so far off center. If you did it by hand and guessed center you would have to be closer than what I have seen on this thread. It is just so hard to believe but a picture does speaks a thousand words.

 

[Fuji-whopper]

I don't know much about woodwork but how can these LD companies be so far off center. If you did it by hand and guessed center you would have to be closer than what I have seen on this thread. It is just so hard to believe but a picture does speaks a thousand words.

They aren't that far off center, that is the debate at hand. A picture is a picture, we have all seen photoshopped pictures depicting many heinous things and hilarious things alike..........do you believe those to be true?

I'm not saying that what has been posted is false but there is not enough information to make a conscious decision as to what issue is shown, if any. Can't wait to see if the original poster is going to give us more information or just leave us hanging thinking that these companies are pandering shoddy products.

 

[softshot]

It's a shame since I was looking forward to seeing a McDermott I-shaft, ....cut in half too.

I don't know what we would find ... but I do know what you will find if you cut a regular McDermott shaft......(solid maple) ....I'm not kidding

pro's have thin shafts because they sanded them down personally....
they have short ferrules because the have re tipped hundreds of times...

thin shafts and short ferrules are a result of learning how to play pool not the cause....


perhaps I am as full of sh*t as I hear I am LOL who knows?

 

[bandido]

I don't know much about woodwork but how can these LD companies be so far off center. If you did it by hand and guessed center you would have to be closer than what I have seen on this thread. It is just so hard to believe but a picture does speaks a thousand words.

Or further than. The chances of being off-center, if not come out of the side of the shaft, at a distance of 4 inches from the entry surface will be high if it's done by hand.