WTB a Kielwood Shaft……..Can You Meet My Requirements?

[Bavafongoul]

I would like to have a cue maker build a Kielwood shaft for me. However, I require the shaft to weigh a minimum of 3.8 ozs, preferably even heavier. I know that torrification renders the shaft lighter but when a cue maker can choose a quality wood for the shaft that would otherwise produced a maple shaft over 4 ozs., it is possible to make a heavier Kielwood shaft. The shaft specs have a lot to do with it so here’s mine: joint diameter (.840), 12.75mm, 3/8x10 flat faced, 29” ( 1/2” Juma ferrule), extended pro taper & Kamui Black Clear soft tip.

If tweaking the specs helps to make a heavier version shaft I want, the shaft can be 30” instead of 29” and even the ferrule could be switched to 1” instead of 1/2” if that helped to increase the shaft weight. I figure a cue maker can achieve what I’ve seen Schmelke already do with their Kielwood shafts. My friend bought two and both were over 4 ozs. but the shafts are piloted so the brass receiver adds extra weight. If anyone has an existing shaft that meets my shaft specs, or a cue maker wants to tackle this, please contact me.

Matt B.

 

[The Old Jaybird]

just buy a Schmelke shaft.

 

[Fore Rail]

Put a set screw in front of the joint pin to achieve weight specs.

 

[Bavafongoul]

just buy a Schmelke shaft.

I think you may be right. I am so pleased with the shaft Cory Barnhart made that I figured to give another individual cue
maker a chance. I’ve spoken with several cue makers but everyone seemed uneasy committing to my weight
requirement. I haven’t spoken directly with Schmelke yet and they might feel the same way. I don’t understand why it
would present any concerns if you have the right wood on hand. Cory only makes radial cues otherwise I’d use him.

 

[The Old Jaybird]

30 inch shaft, and 1 inch ferrule and I think you get a 4 ouncer from Schmelke.

 

[Bavafongoul]

Put a set screw in front of the joint pin to achieve weight specs.

I could put a piece of lead tape on it but balance, torque and tactile feel would be screwed up.

You either do it right or stick with playing original maple shafts weighing 4 ozs or heavier that
my cues have. There is a weight ratio I adhere to so I made sure my cues were built to satisfy it.

 

[sbrownn]

I ordered this one at the beginning of Feb:

Roasted/ Torrified Maple Finish Cut/Pro Taper Shaft Grade AA

dominiakcues.com

• $35.90 for medium roast color (starting stock)
• 12.5mm long pro taper about 12+" in length
• total shaft length 29"
• tapped for 3/8x10 (modified if possible)
• 1/4" tall basic black small joint ring
• .850" joint size
• smallish size ferrule, G2 soft tip

total $180, including shipping and PayPal fees, no tax

Hoping I get it soon

 

[Bavafongoul]

30 inch shaft, and 1 inch ferrule and I think you get a 4 ouncer from Schmelke.

I think you are right and since my buddy has a 13 mm shaft and I want 12.75mm, I figured the weight would
go down a few grams and meet my requirements. It is interesting how some cue makers reacted because I
was expecting a more confident response

I ordered this one at the beginning of Feb:

Roasted/ Torrified Maple Finish Cut/Pro Taper Shaft Grade AA

dominiakcues.com

• $35.90 for medium roast color (starting stock)
• 12.5mm long pro taper about 12+" in length
• total shaft length 29"
• tapped for 3/8x10 (modified if possible)
• 1/4" tall basic black small joint ring
• .850" joint size
• smallish size ferrule, G2 soft tip

total $180, including shipping and PayPal fees, no tax

Hoping I get it soon

This sounds like a great deal. Let us know how it turns out and I’m especially curious about the weight.

 

[Bavafongoul]

30 inch shaft, and 1 inch ferrule and I think you get a 4 ouncer from Schmelke.

I think you are right and since my buddy has a 13 mm shaft and I want 12.75mm, I figure the weight would
go down a few grams and meet my requirements. It is interesting how some cue makers reacted because I
was expecting a more confident attitude. Like I wrote, every cue maker I spoke with was hesitant to commit.

 

[Bavafongoul]

sbrownn…….I sent an inquiry to Dominiak Cues and told them what I wanted built.

 

[Fore Rail]

I could put a piece of lead tape on it but balance, torque and tactile feel would be screwed up.

You either do it right or stick with playing original maple shafts weighing 4 ozs or heavier that
my cues have. There is a weight ratio I adhere to so I made sure my cues were built to satisfy it.

Contact Richard Hsu - RJH Cues - he will hook you up.

BTW Samsara has a small set screw in the front of the threads to make up for weight lost in the LD process. Those shafts play just fine in the balance, torque & feel department.

Mezz also has their Shaft Weight System (SWS)

SWS | Mezz Cues: High Quality High Performance Cues, Shafts and Gear

Mezz cues is a high quality, high performance pool, carom and snooker cues, 100% made in Japan.

mezzcue.com

If you didn't know the weight was in either shaft, well you wouldn't know.

 

[Bavafongoul]

Thanks for the suggestions. Richard is the only cue maker that would commit to making a shaft like I want.

However, I don’t desire a Kielwood shaft enough to warrant paying that much for a shaft. I’ll rather stick with heavier maple shafts I’ve been playing with for years instead if the KW shaft costs that much.

I paid around $300 for the one I have now and I like it a lot. I’d pay as much or a little more for another one but not hundreds which seems absurd. It’s only a wood shaft.

No shaft serms worth that much to me whether it’s Kielwood, Carbon or some other new metallurgy version. It always comes down to the player’s skills and mental focus rather than the equipment used.

 

[sbrownn]

sbrownn…….I sent an inquiry to Dominiak Cues and told them what I wanted built.

Unfortunately, I just heard back from him and he is delayed on orders. I think this happens way too often with cue makers

 

[Bavafongoul]

What surprises me is I have a thread in the Ask The Cue Maker Forum and kind of challenged that community of experts to tackle this KW build. No one has stepped up nor has anyone disputed what I was thinking which is this is easy if you have the right wood. Apparently, based on the lack of posts, cue makers don’t have an adequate supply of aged shaft dowels or someone would have contacted me. If I don’t get any offers to build me a KW shaft, I’ll just take my chances with ordering a 29 1/2” or maybe a 30” shaft from Schmelke. I think the weight should be at least 3.8 ozs based on the two KW shafts my friend has. It looks like my KW shaft requirements are dependent entirely on the shaft wood rather than the cue maker’s skills.

 

[xX-Wizard-Xx]

whats the purpose ... the entire idea for KS is lighter less deflection ??

 

[Bavafongoul]

Weight proportionality of the cue butt and cue shaft…….imagine you were given two 19 oz. cues to play with.
Cue A is a 15.75oz. but & 3.25 oz. shaft (12.5 mm);; Cue B is a 14.75 oz. butt & 4.25 oz. shaft…..both 19 ozs.

Do you think the two cues, using the same tip, willl feel different to you? And if the cues would, at what point
is there a weight combination that the two cues feel pretty much alike? Great cue makers have this figured out.

All of my cues are built with the same weight ratio but obviously different cue makers. My cue makers were already
building pool cues the way I wanted mine to get built. They confirmed my emphasis on weight ratios made sense.

I researched cues built by the best names today and time immemorial. The cues they built used this same weight
ratio. The weight of the shaft does not make it low deflection. The front end mass of the shaft has more to do with it.

The KW shaft Cory Barnhart refers to as roasted maple barely meets my requirements but it does. I’d prefer it was 1/3
oz. heavier but it does fall within my weight parameters. The other KW shaft makers don’t currently offer shafts that do.

Unfortunately, Cory only makes a radial joint and only my Scruggs cue has a radial pin. So I require a 3/8x10 and 3/8x11
KW shaft so all the cues In my case have a KW shaft. I posted in the Cue Maker Forum; only JoeyInCali posted a reply.

He confirmed that if you start with a heavier shaft dowel, which is increasingly harder to find or so it apparently seems,
the KW shaft would meet my requirements with having to artificially add weight to the shaft , ex., adding a metal screw.

So I am searching for is a competent cue maker that has the wood inventory he can choose from that lets him build a
KW shaft that meets my specs. This really isn’t a difficult build if and when the cue maker chooses the right shaft wood.

 

[Tarheel]

Thanks for the suggestions. Richard is the only cue maker that would commit to making a shaft like I want.

However, I don’t desire a Kielwood shaft enough to warrant paying that much for a shaft. I’ll rather stick with heavier maple shafts I’ve been playing with for years instead if the KW shaft costs that much.

I paid around $300 for the one I have now and I like it a lot. I’d pay as much or a little more for another one but not hundreds which seems absurd. It’s only a wood shaft.

No shaft serms worth that much to me whether it’s Kielwood, Carbon or some other new metallurgy version. It always comes down to the player’s skills and mental focus rather than the equipment used.

I don’t get it. Richard makes a great kielwood shaft. It might cost a couple hundred more than you want to spend but he can meet your specs. It’s not like you can’t afford it. You have many nice and expensive cues which you like to show us. An extra $200 to get what you want. Why not?

 

[Bavafongoul]

I don’t get it. Richard makes a great kielwood shaft. It might cost a couple hundred more than you want to spend but he can meet your specs. It’s not like you can’t afford it. You have many nice and expensive cues which you like to show us. An extra $200 to get what you want. Why not?

It’s actually $350 more and 22-24 weeks lead time. I just don’t think it is worth paying that much more and waiting that long for a shaft. You’re right about my cues and I can justify the cost based on rarity, uniqueness and personal pride having designed most of them. I can keep playing with my original shafts like I’ve done all my life. I have the one KW shaft that meets my requirements. If Barnhart can make it so can other cue makers but for some reason they’re either reluctant to tackle this or are concerned about failing to meet my specs. It looks like Schmelke will wind up getting an order for a couple of KW shafts. I have played with Schmelke KW shafts; they play fine, cost 1/2 as much as Hsu’s shafts an d can be completed in 3 - 4 weeks. I was really hoping Barnhart would have relented and built me two more shafts but he is pretty set about only making radial joints. I thought a ambitious cue maker might step forward to offer make my shafts but no takers have shown up. There must be a reason why no cue maker has stepped forward to offer building me two KW shafts with my specs.

 

[sbrownn]

It’s actually $350 more and 22-24 weeks lead time. I just don’t think it is worth paying that much more and waiting that long for a shaft. You’re right about my cues and I can justify the cost based on rarity, uniqueness and personal pride having designed most of them. I can keep playing with my original shafts like I’ve done all my life. I have the one KW shaft that meets my requirements. If Barnhart can make it so can other cue makers but for some reason they’re either reluctant to tackle this or are concerned about failing to meet my specs. It looks like Schmelke will wind up getting an order for a couple of KW shafts. I have played with Schmelke KW shafts; they play fine, cost 1/2 as much as Hsu’s shafts an d can be completed in 3 - 4 weeks. I was really hoping Barnhart would have relented and built me two more shafts but he is pretty set about only making radial joints. I thought a ambitious cue maker might step forward to offer make my shafts but no takers have shown up. There must be a reason why no cue maker has stepped forward to offer building me two KW shafts with my specs.

I'm still waiting on my KW shaft from dominiakcues.com.

Ping Jim Pierce, he should be able to put together what you want. He did a very nice cue for me to my specs at a great price with a very reasonable build time...

 

[billiards_watch]

It’s actually $350 more and 22-24 weeks lead time. I just don’t think it is worth paying that much more and waiting that long for a shaft. You’re right about my cues and I can justify the cost based on rarity, uniqueness and personal pride having designed most of them. I can keep playing with my original shafts like I’ve done all my life. I have the one KW shaft that meets my requirements. If Barnhart can make it so can other cue makers but for some reason they’re either reluctant to tackle this or are concerned about failing to meet my specs. It looks like Schmelke will wind up getting an order for a couple of KW shafts. I have played with Schmelke KW shafts; they play fine, cost 1/2 as much as Hsu’s shafts an d can be completed in 3 - 4 weeks. I was really hoping Barnhart would have relented and built me two more shafts but he is pretty set about only making radial joints. I thought a ambitious cue maker might step forward to offer make my shafts but no takers have shown up. There must be a reason why no cue maker has stepped forward to offer building me two KW shafts with my specs.

The problem is not all cue makers are making these shafts and your choice is very limited. I would just find out who makes them and go from there. It's sort of a niche and involves an oven unless they are outsourcing these dried shafts.