Wobble when rolling cue

T

thedude

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have a wonderful Jacoby cue. I'd sold out to predator cues for awhile, and have been playing with their sneaky pete and a 5K3. For a while I liked the predators better, but I noticed a major problem that I have with the predators that I didn't have with Jacoby. I travel frequently and am always playing on different tables, one day its a brunswick with slow felt in a humid environment, with real high action cushions, another day it may be a diamond table with fast simonis cloth in a dry atmosphere, etc... and I have a much more difficult time adjusting to the different tables with the predators, than what I did when I played with the Jacoby.

So I've brought the Jacoby out of retirement. Its a wonderful cue. However, there's the very slightest of a wobble when I roll the cue, I mean the wobble is very minute... maybe 1/16th of an inch or 2mm at most every 6 to 8 inches when I roll it across the table. When I roll the shaft and the butt by themselves neither has the wobble. When I screw the joints together they seem to come together quite evenly. Could the wobble simply be because of the shafts taper? Its been present since I bought the cue, but I wasn't quite so obsessed with pocket billiards when I first purchased this cue.

I realize that is something that is small enough not to worry about in terms of effecting game play. But the butt has a small few knicks in the finish, and I'd like to send it back to Jacoby eventually to have it refinished and am curious if I should have them address this wobble when I do... I think I am just being a bit overly critical, but would like to get someone who knows something about cue dynamics and construction to give me a little bit of feed back. What I'd like to here is "Relax, your being a bit obsessive."
:D

Thanks for any feedback.
 
It would bother me too. I have cue with a very small wobble. One that could never affect it's use and I don't notice it at all if I use it. Still just knowing it's not perfectly straight makes me not choose it to play with. It gets in my head. If I was having other work done on the cue I would see if the joint could be fixxed to make it straight.
 
If the shaft and the butt do not wobble when rolled, then it may be the facing on the joint. When you send it back, send the shaft also and ask them to check the facing. Its an easy fix.

Also when you roll the butt, make sure the pin doesn't wobble.
 
sometimes the wobble can be caused by the wrap as well. doesnt sound like it in this situation but it is a possibility. but yea if u're getting it refinished tell them to check out whats causing the wobble and whether that can be fixed or not. usually they can straighten it a little if its in the butt.
 
Very slight rolls don't bother me at all. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it, and probably wouldn't even send it back. It is probably just the joint face as noted previously. Play with it. If you like the way it plays and you shoot well with it, who cares if it wobbles 3"? If your intention is to sell it, I still don't think it would deter many if the wobble is as slight as you suggest.

They are fine cues, BTW.
 
I don't know much about pool but a person whose opinion I respect told me the best way to check the roll of a cue is to put the butt on the rail at the point where you put your hand on the cue and roll it. If it rolls straight you are good to go because any wobble below where you put your hand it is irrelevant.
 
I is very easy to warp a perfectly built cue. The way it is handled, used and even the way we condition our shafts can lead to some minor warpage. As you described it, to me, it doesn't sound like a problem. But if a slight warp bothered me, I would deal with it by buying a new shaft when the cue gets refinished. It doesn't sound like there is a defect in workmanship to pursue. I've bought about 6 Jacoby shafts over the years and in my experience they have been stable. I bought a collection of 12 different cues 2 years ago from a Florida collector and every one was slightly warped. Sometimes it has nothing to do with workmanship or abuse...it's just where they sit when stored.
 
cuenut said:
Very slight rolls don't bother me at all. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it, and probably wouldn't even send it back. It is probably just the joint face as noted previously. Play with it. If you like the way it plays and you shoot well with it, who cares if it wobbles 3"? If your intention is to sell it, I still don't think it would deter many if the wobble is as slight as you suggest.

They are fine cues, BTW.
Click to expand...

I agree with your opinion. Its a great cue, and the wobble doesn't effect the play at all. I love the way it plays, and it has a lot of sentimental value. So I'm not going to stress about it, I guess it gives the cue a bit more character.;) I like the predator cues/shafts... I have two, I loved them at first but the novelty has worn off. I shoot great with the predators, the shafts are great... but I feel the craftmanship on the cues are poor in regards to the butt design. My sneaky pete, it gets dented like it was made out of poplar. And the 5K3, an otherwise beautiful cue... the bumper just looks like it was slapped on there on an assembly line. Like I said the Jacoby just has sentimental value, me and a friend were once playing and we barely had enough money to cover the table tab... So we started betting, the loser has to crawl under the table and bark like a dog. I won every time with that cue. It was my first respectable cue, went from a players cue to a viking to the Jacoby.

Like I said, I want to get the cue refinished by Jacoby when I have the spare cash... There are a few minor nicks in the finish nothing major, but just want to keep the cue in tip top shape. When I get around to getting it refinished I'll send the shaft, and see what the prob. is... until then I won't worry about it. I've played with house cues that are so curved they are more suited as use as a bow, and still played well... More than anything, regardless of how the predators shoot... I feel they shoot great, don't want to knock them. But the Jacoby has more character in one square inch, then a predator cue has in its entirety. Don't want to diss predator, because I love how they shoot...

But as I said, when I realized that after shooting with a predator I found it more difficult to shoot with a non-predator cue.... Well, I just don't care for that thought. Of course I could slap a predator shaft on the Jacoby... but I like the feel of the Jacoby shaft, and it has a bit more diameter... having long fingers its a bit more comfortable in terms of using a closed bridge. This is all a recent epiphany... I was sold on predator, but the little predator label on the shaft... all the predator hoopla started to annoy me. Its like paying 125 bucks for a pair of nikes, sure their damn comfortable, but they cost five bucks to make in some southeast asian country where the worker is payed 25 cents an hour. Predators are like the Air Jordans of pocket billiards. And I like my American made Danner boots.

BTW. I have no intention of selling the cue. It is beautiful, plays great... and it was part of one of my best pool memories, forcing a friend to crawl under a pool table and bark like a dog. That cues going with me to my grave. The only question is what to do with the 5K3... probably give the sneaky pete to my girlfriend, then I can find someone to sell/trade the 5k3 too. Maybe I can move it to afford the refurbishing of my Jacoby... they are damn fine cues.

Thanks to all who've replied...

The Dude
 
Last edited:
From what I have been told by some so-called experts, often the wobble looks like it is in the forearm, but it is actually coming from the handle that can be replaced. I'm sure that handle replacement is easier said than done.
 
cuesblues said:
From what I have been told by some so-called experts, often the wobble looks like it is in the forearm, but it is actually coming from the handle that can be replaced. I'm sure that handle replacement is easier said than done.
Click to expand...

I'm kind in agreement that the problem is in the joint facing... or at least the joint area in general. The shaft rolls straight, the butt rolls straight, and the pin doesn't wobble when the rolling the butt...

Like I said, it still plays great. Just got get over the mental aspect of it, and over the predator making my stroke incompatible with other cues.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top