j6 cue stories

[itsnoteasy]

Good luck luck with it LoneWolf, it's a great looking cue.

[Snooker man Stevie]

Looks nice Jason do you taper all your cues same ?

[the lone wolf]

Good luck luck with it LoneWolf, it's a great looking cue.

Thanks mate. :snooker:

[j6uk]

Looks nice Jason do you taper all your cues same ?

no, the wood dictates where the shaft can go. without being too cryptic, less is more

[Snooker man Stevie]

The reason is looking at trump and his new parris cue it looks chunky and was thinking is
This beter to hit ball in center

[the lone wolf]

The reason is looking at trump and his new parris cue it looks chunky and was thinking is
This beter to hit ball in center

I think shaft taper is something that has a whole lot of room for improvement in the snooker cue making world. When compared to American pool, where shaft taper can make or break (pun intended) a cue makers career. The average USA pool cue maker spends years just crafting out the best taper for their cues, and then are able to reproduce this identically on all their cues. Not saying it's that easy to do with a snooker cue, but... It's impressive stuff!

[mikeyd100]

I think shaft taper is something that has a whole lot of room for improvement in the snooker cue making world. When compared to American pool, where shaft taper can make or break (pun intended) a cue makers career. The average USA pool cue maker spends years just crafting out the best taper for their cues, and then are able to reproduce this identically on all their cues. Not saying it's that easy to do with a snooker cue, but... It's impressive stuff!

I never thought pool cues had that much attention paid to them as in years of crafting a top end cue... eye opening for sure.

[j6uk]

I think shaft taper is something that has a whole lot of room for improvement in the snooker cue making world. When compared to American pool, where shaft taper can make or break (pun intended) a cue makers career. The average USA pool cue maker spends years just crafting out the best taper for their cues, and then are able to reproduce this identically on all their cues. Not saying it's that easy to do with a snooker cue, but... It's impressive stuff!

why, and in what way you think that is wolf?

[the lone wolf]

I never thought pool cues had that much attention paid to them as in years of crafting a top end cue... eye opening for sure.

There is a lot of knowledge to be learned by anyone who choose too. The top end manufacturers like Predator and McDermott both have different shaft tapers. The McDermott really encourages the user to use the loop bridge more so than the predator imo but many would say otherwise. The more independent makers have different tapers again and become trade secrets, so the only way one can really learn is through experimental research. Mezz cues have recently launched their version of a snooker cue so it will be interesting to know what kind of taper they have used. However their pricing is all wrong and at £500-700 am sure most snooker players will remain loyal to the tried and tested snooker names...

The J6 shaft may or may not change over time as he has got 'the eye' and talent for it.
Talent has a big part to play and it is interesting that J6 explains that he allows the wood to dictate the shaft! Which for me is bordering on high end sculpture. An art unto its own!
It's great watching the development of someone as open as J6... :snooker:

[j6uk]

nice little read wolf, especially the part about me. but i think the only thing thats different here is im cutting my shafts down to the play by hand, and taper wise there are guide dims that you dont really wanna stray from with a standard length cue

[DeanH]

The only cuemaker I have seen with a "taper-jig" is Coutts and I think he uses it to measure and to match an old cue's dimensions to replicate to a new cue. I don't know if he uses it for his original creations

[the lone wolf]

why, and in what way you think that is wolf?

The reason being J6 are the number of bought custom cues that see themselves back on the 'for sale' heap quicker than what it took to build them. I know as players we can be a fickle bunch when we want to be; however how many times have we heard "that cue plays a ton so am going to order one." Then several months and in many cases years, they receive their cue only to find out that it does not hit a ton like their friends cue...

The argument has always been, no cue hits the same. But in American pool this is not the case. A top pro playing with a predator cue for example will be quite happy to sell their cue on knowing that their sponsor cue maker will replace the cue with a shaft that is a true replica of the previous. Perhaps this is because these cue are batched produce and so many of these shaft are laminated? But then, the independent cue makers pride themselves on making shafts from whole pieces of maple... We've all heard the stories of maple buried deep in the lakes of somewhere; which are true and real.

The shaft will also determine the balance and abviously the weight of the cue. The differences must be in the fact that a custom snooker cue is made as a one piece whereas the American pool cue is made as a two piece. So the one maker concentrates on the cue as a whole whilst the other concentrates on the two halves of a cue to make the whole.

WOW! The mind boggles :snooker:

[DeanH]

wolf - how many of these "top" US makers use CNC-lathes to create these identical shafts?

[itsnoteasy]

LoneWolf ,you say it takes years of experimenting to discover a certain makers taper to a shaft as it's a closely guarded secret, why can't you just measure down their shafts at intervals and you can then replicate that taper exactly, if you know how to use a plane.
I thought most pool shafts were made on a machine? So while the taper will turn out exactly the same the hit will be different as every piece of wood is( so everyone keeps saying) I take your point about laminated shafts , these could easily play much more like each other.

[the lone wolf]

wolf - how many of these "top" US makers use CNC-lathes to create these identical shafts?

Yes; the majority / production cues are made using CNC lathes which is an obvious game changer. But again, some independents do not, and boast the whole 'handmade' claim.