curious about why people like splices/veneer?

[hahahaheng]

hi everyone, i was just wondering why professional players (except ronnie) don't usually use cues with splices?

as i have seen on tv most of them use plain ebony butt without any splice or veneer except ronnie that he always use the same design even if he changes his cues so often (why would he stick with the same design everytime he gets a new cue?)

does it actually make any difference with the second splicing on a cue?

thanks!!

[1lawyer]

no, its what you do with it that counts

[ebonynivory]

As 1Lawyer mantioned, the splices don't make a difference. It seems like Ronnie always uses/or is provided with the same style of cue as most would recognise that it is from Parris

[poolqjunkie]

Ryan Day's cue looks quite fancy to me if I remember correctly.
Some players might just like cues with a plain look.
Ronnie's cue's design is made after a Burwat Champion, isn't it? May be that is the look he likes?
I suspect a lot of these players are using the same cue they had some years back when they first started. They might have gotten their first cues as a gift or when they were very young and not very wealthy.

[Kolya]

If everybody had plain ebony butted cues how would you ever find yours in a snooker hall?

[eaoin11]

Actually the secondary splicing can have the function of reducing the weight of a cue in the butt, if you use woods of lower density than ebony.

If you look at the John Parris range, the weights of his 3/4 cues (jointed at 16 inches) start from about 18.5 ounces. But the 3/4 cues with 4 secondary splices start from 17.

Apart from the weight, just look at pics of Trevor White's cues and see how he uses the colours of different timbers. No more justification needed.

[noel]

=o)

Noel

[mooneyy]

Hey noel

It's almost impossible to play good snooker with this one!


There's no tip on it...

[Kolya]

So they're not just to make it look pretty then?

[poolqjunkie]

Well, a plain ebony cue can be made to be lighter than one with splices though, so I have to respectfully disagree that the splices is used for the purposes of reducing weight.
I think secondary splices are cosmetic, but a lot of people like to use something they are proud of or at least something which has the look that they like or something they feel can represent themselves--so cosmetic appeal is important.
I suppose you may argue that secondary splices might add structural integrity to the cue and it might reduce the chance of warpage of the butt with laminating and veneering of different pieces of woods together. How much is the significance of this I do not know.

[RGCirencester]

You can effect the balance of the cue with splices. Putting a lighter piece of wodd on 4 splices at the back will naturally alter the balance of the cue

[poolqjunkie]

You can effect the balance of the cue with splices. Putting a lighter piece of wodd on 4 splices at the back will naturally alter the balance of the cue

I meant to say that I do not believe that when a cue maker wants to make a cue lighter he would put splices on the butt to reduce the weight because you can make a simple ebony butt cue lighter than one with splices.

My post was written in response to a previous post (quoted below) suggesting that splices is used to reduce weight to make a cue lighter.

Actually the secondary splicing can have the function of reducing the weight of a cue in the butt, if you use woods of lower density than ebony.

If you look at the John Parris range, the weights of his 3/4 cues (jointed at 16 inches) start from about 18.5 ounces. But the 3/4 cues with 4 secondary splices start from 17.

Sorry for the confusion.

How much is the shift in balance point if I add 4 splices of say tulip wood to an ebony butt?
Does anyone know? Is the data significant? Somehow I doubt it.

[trevs1]

The primary idea of lower splices is for decoration, no doubt, but.....

Cues can definitely be made with lower splices to reduce the overall weight at times, especially if a customer requires a 3/4 long butt cue, of maybe no more than 17.5oz's. Timbers such as Padauk, Spanish olivewood, Ovangkol, some rosewoods and burrs etc, and many others, will virtually all be of less weight than ebony usually will.

A long butt 3/4 cue with a plain ebony butt will always be heavier than one with four lower splices, unless an extremely heavy timber is used for those lower splices, such as Snakewood, Lignum or maybe another heavy timber like Cocobolo.

[poolqjunkie]

The primary idea of lower splices is for decoration, no doubt, but.....

Cues can definitely be made with lower splices to reduce the overall weight at times, especially if a customer requires a 3/4 long butt cue, of maybe no more than 17.5oz's. Timbers such as Padauk, Spanish olivewood, Ovangkol, some rosewoods and burrs etc, and many others, will virtually all be of less weight than ebony usually will.

A long butt 3/4 cue with a plain ebony butt will always be heavier than one with four lower splices, unless an extremely heavy timber is used for those lower splices, such as Snakewood, Lignum or maybe another heavy timber like Cocobolo.

Trevor,
If a customer orders a plain 3/4 long butt ebony cue of 16.5 oz. and he does not want to pay anything extra to get any additional splices.
Can you for example drill out a bit more wood when you install the joint in the ebony butt, or even insert a lighter wood in the core to reduce its weight?
How about make it as a one piece and then install the joint?
What I am getting at is that such a cue can be made without the use of secondary splices, is that right?

[Kolya]

Let's be honest really, forget weight of the cue or anything else the splices are there for cosmetic reasons because people who work with wood like to make beautiful things.