bent cue or intentional taper?

[Grifter]

My initial impression was that this new cue i received was bent, but I since was told by the supplier that it might be part of the design.
Its the peradon storm 8 ball cue.
I have a quick video here and would be thankful if anyone could shed any light on this.
Send it back or hold onto it?


https://vimeo.com/36652318

[willtyson]

I believe this cue is bent.

[Grifter]

Thanks again will, lol

[coomsey76]

Thanks again will, lol

You are you sure you wasn't just after a second opinion??....Lol!!

Yep definitely looks bent to as well......

[ADR147]

not the way to tell really!

[Grifter]

Thanks lads,
This looks like a good forum.

[Grifter]

Can you elaborate ADR?

[jim evans]

your supose to look by eye but rolling the table gives a idea as to where it might be bent lol

[Grifter]

not to be doubting any experts, but skip to 2:44 on this video:

http://www.peradon.co.uk/cue-manufacture.aspx

[coomsey76]

As everybody has just said, that is the true way to check it......

[thelongbomber]

You never roll a cue on a table to see if it's straight.
You should hold up the cue to your eye (like a rifle) and slowly turn it, if it looks straight, it is !!

And why is that? Logically speaking, if the table is flat, then rolling a shaft (making sure to unscrew the butt) should tell you if the conical taper is slightly off true center. I know the rifle method works also.

Anyways, your cue looks pretty bent to me m8. Most lower end range cues made by cue makers these days are mass produced and the extra care isn't taken to stabilize and perfect the cue turning during manufacturing. When a shaft is placed in a lathe, it needs to be centered with a dial guage because the chuck rarely grips a cue perfectly straight. This can take some time. I suspect this isn't done for mass produced, hand or machine spliced cues.

Send it back to Peradon if you bought from them. I believe they are pretty good about their return policy.

[Grifter]

Thanks guys for your opinions.
You've reassured me on what I suspected myself.

[poolqjunkie]

When sighting down the shaft as shown in your video the shaft looked to be a bit warp close to the tip end.
It is pretty cheap and easy to fix a warp. There looks to be a couple warp but it is hard to tell as I just froze the video when the cue was filmed down the shaft.
The rolling on the table does not tell much because the taper is not conical and either are all cues completley round. Some cues are tapered like a cigar so it may pivot when rolled.
Also a cue can be bent but roll "true" on a table.
The shaft appears to be bent, it is not because of off centered turning or anything like that.
By the way, not all cues are turned on a lathe.

[narl]

Because most cues are not made to a conical taper, well over this side of the pond anyhow

^ This, hand made cues over here usually don't have a consistant taper which means rolling them on a table will produce a wobble which many will think means the cue is warped.

[poolqjunkie]

2 piece cues here in Canada are turned on a lathe and the taper on the butt is straight/conical, plus it is pretty round since it was turned by a machine.
But when you make a cue by hand with planes it is not the case.
However, in the video, when the camera was directly behind the shaft, which clearly showed (at least to me) that the cue was bent, perhaps in more than 1 places. I dont care much for the rolling shots but there were several shots when you can sight down the shaft, and it showed to me that the cue was bent.
The owner should be able to see that when sighting down the shaft. But I cannot be 100% sure because the shots are not very clear.
As I said it is not an expensive fix. You can take it to a cue doctor to have it sorted out.