[str8flexed]

Does breaking damage the shaft over time? I know it flattens the tip if it's not hard. Thanks. =)

I was just wondering since I was thinking of keeping the Viking to break with, but wouldn't want to do this if it would damage the shaft over time. I don't really mind if it just flattens the tip.

[FASTLARRY]

No, not if its a well made cue over $150, I would not be concerned. I broke with a $2500 southwest for years, people thought I was nuts.
I mostly use my custome schuler for now is just to break with. I break a lot with my power piston 1 meucci, been doing that for 4 years, plastic joint, no problems. I hit them very hard, pro hard, upper pro hard.

What it does is flatten your tip, pack it down, so you need to file and shape it a lot which grinds down the tip fast, so put on a triangle, or a X taiilsman, you can get these from me.

You view a cue as the shaft being the weak point, and like a good suit which I always buy with 2 pair of pants, same on a cue, I always get it with 2 shafts. My new PP-4 came in with 4 shafts. View a shaft like a cpu, after 4 years, toss it in the dumpster and go get a new one.

:-) :-o :-o :-P

[str8flexed]

Thanks for the quick response!

I learned a bit about shafts from your post. Anyway, if I use a cue exclusively for breaking, then if the tip that came with it flattened it wouldn't really be a big deal would it? On a break stick I thought you don't really bother with much spin--maybe only a slight bit of draw to center it on the table I thought.

Actually I changed my mind--$125 for a break stick for me is a little too much :-D . I'm thinking about just buying a Players Sneaky Pete as a break cue... I've played with one a couple of years ago before and actually liked its feel for a $35 dollar cue.

[ Edited by str8flexed on 2004/7/28 20:04 ]

[str8flexed]

Thank you all for the responses. At either rate, I'll probably get a cheap Playesr Sneaky Pete to break with. Now I can have a decent cue to let other people play with too. =)

[biglouieone]

$500 for a break cue is a little stiff. Is there cheaper stuff out there that works?

[The_Woim]

Laura has a Scruggs...

Don't worry about damaging your playing cue by breaking with it. The greats of yesterday did that all the time. You can always use a house cue.

Advice handed out can also lead you to buy a nice break cue because in 9 ball the break is the most important shot. In both 1 pocket and 14.1 (my fav), the break shot is just as precise as shooting a spot shot from the kitchen.

I have a question that The Woim has been thinking of. Does a shaft have a life expectancy? Why replace it every couple of years?

Yours Truly,
The Woim

[Pin]

All this shaft worry seems quite strange to me.

I play english pool with a 1-piece - I love how it feels. Even playing with house cues, I find the feel so much better than with a jointed cue.

The case is a big inconvenience, but I can live with that.

I suppose american pool puts much more demand on the shaft though. If I'm able to play the game regularly I'll upgrade from my current cheap production job and perhaps look at a break-jump cue too. It'd be hard to find, especially in the UK, but I'd quite like a decent 1-piece for my main cue.

Do you think it would survive?

[FASTLARRY]

I have a question that The Woim has been thinking of. Does a shaft have a life expectancy? Why replace it every couple of years?


Yes and No. I have a Rambo I bought in Chicago and it's 50 years old. I stopped playing with it full time when I got my original bushka. Having a Brass joint I never broke with it, just played 9 ball because it was butt heavy and 20 oz and it was good for that power game. I played 14.1 with my bushka which is 18.5oz and more center balanced. I have a proper English Snooker cue and a Schuler for 3-c with a Cuelemens shaft. There are different cues for different games.

I probably put a good 25 years of play on the Rambo. It's a wall hanger now and the shaft is perfect, as good as day one. In fact it is the most perfect shaft I have ever seen. It is stronger than whale S***. I took it to Schuler to try and duplicate it and he said I just got lucky with one of those one in a million perfect pieces of wood.

Take care of a shaft properly it will last you a lifetime which I have proved.

Bob Meucci says the life of a shaft is 4 years because people sand them and finally change the shaft flex and the wood gets smaller behind the ferrule.

So don't sand your shafts.
When I get on a tour cue, I buy 6 shafts and keep playing with them until my cpu tells me which ones are the best. I sell off the ones that don't feel right. I just keep buying the cue with 4 shafts and then keep 2 and sell the cue with 2 shafts. I may go through a bunch of shafts until I end up with my 6. I then hang them to dry and cure and every 2 years I take down two and work them into my case for play. I carry 4 shafts on tour and all 4 are so close its hard to tell them apart. I refuse to establish a favorite. So I have 4 shafts in my case for my bushka and 6 hanging curing now, like wine, they do not play before their time. The cues I have retired in the last 15 years, my $850 Moooochie PP-4 has 6 perfect shafts and my Falcon F-21, a $2000 cue has 6. When I go somebody is going to get those cues and they will have shafts to last them a lifetime as they are all perfect.

During the golden age and up to WWII Brunswick would cure shafts for a solid year. At any one time they had 100,000 on the racks waiting their time. Today they just bang them out green and wet and curing is unheard of.

There is no such thing as white wood. It's all brown and guys like Mooooochie and Peachaur put a Hardrock brown maple shaft from the UP of Michigan in a dry kiln and under pressure it turns the wood from brown to white. You guys think you are getting a better shaft and it's all nonsense. So the shafts today are crap what they used to be because of them not curing them properly which is why they warp so easily. Ask any old timer who has worked with wood for a long time and they will tell you the wood today is total s*** compared to what it was 30 years ago. Global warming, acid rain, pollution, now lack of rain strains the trees health and growth. They are not cutting from old wood like they did. It's all young growth.

I look very closely at the grain and its pattern to help select a shaft.

I rate shafts like this. The ones I am playing with are AA.
A, top quality, B, Ok, C, crap.

I used to play with persimmon head wood drivers and collected dozens of ones that were restored and beautiful, 925's, 945's, Tommy Armours, Penas, Nelsons. I would never buy one black because they paint them to hide flaws in the wood. If it had the right grain they clear coated it. Today you have the same problem with coated shafts like cue tec. They can give you B shafts and you can't tell. There is no incentive for them to spend more money for premium wood. I have a full set of 693's 1-2=3-4=5 woods, perfect. I bought this set of R2tw's from a hacker who got them new and rarely played. Again it was one of those one in a million lucky pieces of wood and that set smoked. I am at my country club and the tour is coming in for an event and a tour pro was in a few days early to get used to the course. He took the week off before the event to rest. He was a tour winner. I was playing my A game at the time and plus one which meant I was hitting it very strong. The pro saw me hit and came over and set up next to me. He admired the driver and asked to hit it. He kept hitting it. About about 25 he tried to buy it. The guy would not let it go. He started at $200 and when I packed up and headed to the parking lot he was up to $1000. The guy followed me there and would not say no. Finally he is begging, I'll pay anything, just name your price. He is going on this is not making you any money but I can win an event with it. He's trying to get in the car with me. He could not believe I would not sell it for any price. It was one of those very rare woods and he knew it. I wish I had that thing on video tape, it was funny as hell.