Personally I like a leather wrap or no wrap on a cue. When and why did cuemakers start wrapping cues with a thread? Was it for the old timers who used a "slip stroke"?
Why wrap a cue?
- Thread starter Tennesseejoe
- Start date
It originally started to keep the cost of cues down. Rambow, while at Brunswick, came up with the idea. The patent states its purpose is to conceal less expensive handle wood.Tennesseejoe said:
Tracy
Tennesseejoe said:
During a match the enviornment and your hands......change their moisture and dirt levels. Because of this, a linen has absorptive qualities and in turn is able to accomodate these changes better than a surface that is slick. With the pros, if they are having grip issues they will make needed changes with the grip material to suit their personal needs.
I prefer Irish Linen. I like the cool feel of it. Some Brands feel better that others? I always figured it was like when my Wife buys sheets & pillow cases, the Higher the Tread count the better it feels. 
yes very interesting the wrap on my old mcdermott is wound real well had it for 11yrs it's not irish linen think its nylon but not like the nylon you find on the real cheap sticks that starts coming unglued after couple months. but i love it compared to irish linen because the irish linen starts feeling sticky after an hour or so of play. dont know if its my sweaty hands or does anyone else have that problem and is there a solution?
have you tried cleaning it?
try cleaning it if you havnt before........if you havnt then it has years of chalk, beer, dr.pepper, sweat, dirt, ect. built up on it.....just take a damp ( not wet )rag and hold it tight and turn the cue with your other hand, you wont have to move it up and down because the way the wrap is wound will slowly move it up the wrap, do that until stuff quits coming off.....if you havnt done it before use a white rag, you will be amazed at how filthy the wrap gets.
BigDaddyInc. said:
try cleaning it if you havnt before........if you havnt then it has years of chalk, beer, dr.pepper, sweat, dirt, ect. built up on it.....just take a damp ( not wet )rag and hold it tight and turn the cue with your other hand, you wont have to move it up and down because the way the wrap is wound will slowly move it up the wrap, do that until stuff quits coming off.....if you havnt done it before use a white rag, you will be amazed at how filthy the wrap gets.
Honestly,
Now that can really tell the difference after a long session when playing with a cue that has a wrap and one that doesnt.
I dont know what anyone puts a wrap on a cue.
I can understand a leather wrap or animal skin. But anything else would seem stupid.
I love the look of a cue that has no wrap.
Now that can really tell the difference after a long session when playing with a cue that has a wrap and one that doesnt.
I dont know what anyone puts a wrap on a cue.
I can understand a leather wrap or animal skin. But anything else would seem stupid.
I love the look of a cue that has no wrap.
I grew up using house cues and when I finally got my own it was a snooker cue. Wasn't until I started playing pool several years ago that I had any exposure to wraps. They look okay I suppose, though I think most people like the linen wrap because that's all they've ever known. Tradition. I love the look of real wood throughout, and when I get a cue custom made for me it won't have any wrap.
I only use the last 6 inches anyway.
I only use the last 6 inches anyway.
I had all of my cues stolen a few years back, and I couldn't afford to spend much on a new cue, so a friend gave me a deal on a sneaky. I got used to no wrap very quickly, and will never go back to a linen wrap. I also have a cue w/ leather that I like a lot also, but my favorite is no wrap at all.
You'll play better with no linen wrap. A wood handle or leather is fine as well. The linen makes you grip the cue tighter...making you less accurate. A no wrap cue, like a sneaky-pete allows you to hold the butt of the cue with very little pressure...like Busta...and allows for a straighter stroke & more cue ball action.
I'll never play with a linen wrap cue again.
If I HAD too...I'd do it like Bob Meucci...least he got something right.
I'll never play with a linen wrap cue again.
If I HAD too...I'd do it like Bob Meucci...least he got something right.
To each his own. I play with Irish Linen, and don't want to play with anything else. And I've played with everything else except for Stingray.Varney Cues said:
And with the Irish Linen, it has to be pressed so that it really doesn't feel like Linen. So, I'm even picky about the way it's put on.
And it's not about taking away what Irish Linen is good for (like Meucci said). I'm simply looking for that type of feel. My other linen-wrapped cues that aren't pressed as much don't feel as good for me, so maybe that's a reason that many people pass on Irish Linen.
FWIW, all of my Meucci cues had exposed Irish Linen, pressed tight.
Fred
Varney Cues said:You'll play better with no linen wrap. A wood handle or leather is fine as well. The linen makes you grip the cue tighter...making you less accurate. A no wrap cue, like a sneaky-pete allows you to hold the butt of the cue with very little pressure...like Busta...and allows for a straighter stroke & more cue ball action.
I'll never play with a linen wrap cue again.
If I HAD too...I'd do it like Bob Meucci...least he got something right.
Yeah but a lot of them, including Busta, use irish linen. Most of these guys and girls use production butts with irish linen. I've never heard anyone attribute accuracy with linen. Personally I just don't buy it but to each their own.
Regards,
Koop
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Back in *the day*
And WAY before my day, no ac, playing under a fan if you were lucky, in the summer .... and along came a wrap!!!!!!!!!! Now your hands didn't slip.
That does not hold true today depending on the player and how well the AC is working.
I prefer no wrap myself, and can live with leather. Aesthertically I love the wood. I like the feel of it also.
But to begin with, I am sure the wrap started as a way to keep your hands from slipping. I think pool probably predated AC (air conditioning, not Ariel Carmeli ... lol ) by 60 years or so.
And WAY before my day, no ac, playing under a fan if you were lucky, in the summer .... and along came a wrap!!!!!!!!!! Now your hands didn't slip.
That does not hold true today depending on the player and how well the AC is working.
I prefer no wrap myself, and can live with leather. Aesthertically I love the wood. I like the feel of it also.
But to begin with, I am sure the wrap started as a way to keep your hands from slipping. I think pool probably predated AC (air conditioning, not Ariel Carmeli ... lol ) by 60 years or so.
Varney Cues said:You'll play better with no linen wrap. A wood handle or leather is fine as well. The linen makes you grip the cue tighter...making you less accurate. A no wrap cue, like a sneaky-pete allows you to hold the butt of the cue with very little pressure...like Busta...and allows for a straighter stroke & more cue ball action.
I'll never play with a linen wrap cue again.
If I HAD too...I'd do it like Bob Meucci...least he got something right.
I'd still like some kind of factual data to back up the claim that linen wraps lend itself to less accuracy. The more I think about it the more ludicrous this statement seems.
Koop said:
Ludicrous is an understatement.. There's people that are equipment junkies. They take things to an entirely different level when it comes to their given hobby/profession etc..
You can read threads on here wondering what length, weight, balance point Efren's cue is becuase that has to be the "Perfect cue." Well in reality, you can hand that guy a broom stick and he'll still stomp everyones ass.. Only thing is after that they'll be trying to find out what kinda broom it was, and then be claiming that if your going to shoot pool with a broom then this is the best choice because of the balance point or something along those lines.
DJ
OK.Koop said:
One of the most important functions of the grip area (you will see why I don't call it the wrap shortly) is that it should keep my hand from slipping on the cue stick even with a light grip. There are finishes/wraps/grips that accomplish that well. Irish linen is not one of them. I like an unwrapped cue -- just the normal, shiny finish -- because it will not slip even with a fairly loose grip. Even leather wraps can become slippery in dry weather.
If you require your wrap to allow slip for some reason then an Irish linen or even a dacron wrap may be what you want. Willie Mosconi used a slip stroke.
i like the slickness of linen wraps (i even wax mine on all my cues) and i think they complete the look of the cue. For some reason a wrapless cue just doesn't look right