weight ratio in a two piece cue

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Hi i have just had a two piece snooker cue made its 58, 10 mm , its a thick shaft, and i have weighed both the butt and shaft , the combined weight is 18.6 oz, the butt is 10.4 , 30 cm, the shaft is 8.2 . and i am pushing every long pot . my last cue was 19 oz , and the butt was 10 oz , and the shaft 9 oz . my question ,is my new cue incorecly balanced . is a difference of 2 oz in the butt to shaft weight too much , as i wanted it to feel like a one piece and not be butt heavy , or forward heavy . what is the desired weight . thanks . ps can the butt be taken down .5 to balance it better , all help would be appreciated . as it is going to be expensive firewood in 3 weeks .

[Watford]

Where is your cue from mate?
Balance very important IMO, I hate back weighted cues.
You need to measure and try a few other cues and see there balance point to see what you like.
For a one piece feel, buy one piece (I work for the one piece preservation society)

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reply to my question

Id rather not say who made it , as it was made to my speck . its just too light in the shaft as apposed to the butt ,a full size cue shaft was used to make the shaft as i wanted slightly thicker cue . and because of that i think it was harder for the maker to judge the overall weight , I am a average player but i have had 100 breaks in practice . what could be done now to rectify it . or will it make things worse . and to answer my initial question , what is the average weight ratio between the shaft, and butt of a 3/4 cue . many thanks .

[trevs1]

The point of balance on a cue is best when it's between 16" and 18" from the butt end.

When a cue has a balance point of less than say 15.75", it starts to feel decidedly back heavy, andby the same token, a cue with a balance point much further forward of 18.5" starts to feel pretty front heavy.

In my experience, the absolute ideal balance point is approx 17" for a cue of a reasonably standard shape and size. By that I mean a cue ranging from 57" to 58"...ish, and a taper of somewhere near the normal. Cues with this point of balance feel as though they sit down on your hands when cueing, without all the weight feeling at the front over your bridge or at the back in your grip.

Another issue to bare in mind is that a cue with a more butt weighted feel can often lead to more spring or give through the shaft, whereas if the weight is moved further forward, it does not have such an adverse effect on the siffness of that cue. Forward weighted cues can also have their own issues if the weight is moved too extremely.

Ultimately, it kind of depends on the overall specs of the cue and also the rigidity of the timber used in building it, as cues which appear nicely balanced can give some really odd playing characteristics.

[trevs1]

Oh by the way, I forgot to mention.

The weights of either part of your cue is about right, so nothing is out of the ordinary there. Most 3/4 ebony butt cues will have a butt weighing approx 10oz's to 12oz's, depending on timber, thickness etc. Shafts can commonly weigh anything from 7.5oz's to 9oz's, and, will always be the lighter of the two parts of the cue.

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reply to posts

Many thanks to you both , i spent a few quid, and an a little upset that i have not got used to cue straight away . It is good to know there are so many knowledgable people on here .
One more question , could i have the shaft slightly reduced in thickness as well or will that ruin the cue ?.

PS The balance point on my cue ,is about two inches in front of the join ,and its a standard size 3/4 cue .

[trevs1]

The taper can be reduced on the cue yes, although this will leave it slightly less front heavy than it is now. I guess it depends on how much timber you're looking to remove, as to just how much weight is lost.

What exactly is it you feel is wrong with the cue, can you describe how it is playing???

Where and how does it feel as though it's letting you down?

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reply

Its is slightly too big the butt of the cue , and the shaft is slightly too thick , my fault , but the shaft is also i feel too light in relation , to the weight of the butt a difference of 2 oz and this is making me push my long pots , i usually can pick a cue up from the rack and pot them off the lampshades but i just cannot controll this cue , it is currently exactly 10mm tip , [ NOT 9.75 ] and it tapers down from 10mm but it is thick , i have small hands as well but i struggle with cut shots with thinner cues , i want it tapering to 9.75 and the diameter of the butt reducing from 30, to 29.5 . will that screw it up ie the balance , or will the wood do strange things .
Ps all the specifications are what i asked for ,albehit all are out by them percentages . Thanks for your replys .

[poolqjunkie]

Why are you saying that you have problem with cut shot with a thin cue, could you please elaborate? Thank you.

Are you now holding he cue at a different place than you used to? Just wondering if that might have some effect on the timing of yout long shots. Perhaps a differnt balance point would cause you to adjust your grip at a different position on the cue? I dont know.

[noel]

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Noel

[Bigmeek]

The point of balance on a cue is best when it's between 16" and 18" from the butt end.

When a cue has a balance point of less than say 15.75", it starts to feel decidedly back heavy, andby the same token, a cue with a balance point much further forward of 18.5" starts to feel pretty front heavy.

In my experience, the absolute ideal balance point is approx 17" for a cue of a reasonably standard shape and size. By that I mean a cue ranging from 57" to 58"...ish, and a taper of somewhere near the normal. Cues with this point of balance feel as though they sit down on your hands when cueing, without all the weight feeling at the front over your bridge or at the back in your grip.

Another issue to bare in mind is that a cue with a more butt weighted feel can often lead to more spring or give through the shaft, whereas if the weight is moved further forward, it does not have such an adverse effect on the siffness of that cue. Forward weighted cues can also have their own issues if the weight is moved too extremely.

Ultimately, it kind of depends on the overall specs of the cue and also the rigidity of the timber used in building it, as cues which appear nicely balanced can give some really odd playing characteristics.

Trevs1, sorry to drag this old chestnut up again but I have a question. Would your balance point rules change if the cue was centre-jointed? I have an old 58" centre jointed cue with a balance point at 20". Could this be causing me to perhaps hit down on the cue ball for instance? I have an old Steve Davis book written before the days of 3/4 cues and in it he says the balance point should be "at the tip end of the splice". I've often wondered what this meant in inches.