Re-Ferruling and deflection.

[the nugget]

Hi there im wondering whether any of you guys have had a cue re-ferruled at any stage and whether you have noticed a difference in the amount of deflection or throw on the cueball as opposed to before you had the work done? Maybe Mike or Trev could throw some light on this.

[Terry Davidson]

When using brass ferrules, the wall thickness of the ferrule (or otherwise the overall weight of it) make a big difference in the amount of throw a cue will have. When I order a cue I get my ferrule at 9.4mm which usually keeps the weight of the ferrule very light.

I've also experimented with stainless steel ferrules which are lighter than brass but 5 times stronger and they work well but unfortunately they are not commonly supplied. They did reduce throw when using side.

In the pool world the cues sold with advertised 'minimum deflection' usually have a very short fiber ferrule or something made of some other lighter material.

So for the brass ferrules we use the idea would be to keep them as short in height as you can (but leave some there as you do wear down the ferrule when you re-tip) and keep the walls as thin as possible and this will minimize the weight at the end of the cue and thus the amount of throw when using side or accidentally unintentional side which a lot of us get now and again.

Terry

[the nugget]

Hi Terry thats good info and is really what i suspected or even maybe a slight change in stiffness with my own cue of 20yrs. Im the cue doctor in my club as far as tipping and re-ferruling is concerned. Ive done a fair few ferrules by hand over the last few years for others, its quite a difficult and time consuming trick to get right. I seem to remember a post by you before concerning this. Anyway after a few yrs of my own ferrule becoming extremely thin walled from shining with wet/dry id reckon, a couple of times this caused it to collapse and become lopsided from the top. So id had to level it a number of times and eventually the thing resembled a pigeon ring. So i couldnt put off changing it any longer before id really do some damage to the wood. I really only lost about half an inch as the tenon was the right fit for the new ferrule. The new one was a longish type but i got a perfect job done with only minimal retapering needed. In fact the job i did was prob my best and neatest to date. Heres the thing, i soon noticed that playing with side had a completely different throw to what i was used to the cue doing for years. Ive persevered but now unless i can get a softish Bd tip with a bit of bite on the cueball im finding it very tough going trying to adjust to it, its like a completely different cue when using side especially on the long ones. When i can get the right tips its manageable but hard to keep finding good uns. I even went as far as ordering a new 1pc pro ash from Dave at Craftsman cues, a beauty at that and a lovely player too, tho i miss the FEEL of my old one. Its a toss up now between trying to get along with the cue or bite the bullet and use the craftsman as my main player for good!

[Terry Davidson]

Switching cues after a long time is really hard to do since when you use side with either your old cue/new ferrule or else your new cue the throw will be different and you will naturally select your old aiming point.

My recommendation to you would be to pull off the new and longer brass ferrule on your old cue and replace it with a stainless steel one however this might entail shortening the cue by a little bit, perhaps 1/2" or so and that might also effect your game.

The other solution (not popular in Britain) is to go for a fiber ferrule which are also lighter than brass.

The University of Ohio did a study on what influences throw in a cue and they found the guilty b*****d to be the weight of the ferrule first and the stiffness of the shaft secondary.

so do anything you can to lighten the weight of the ferrule on your old cue if at all possible

Terry

[the nugget]

Yes Terry id agree with that for sure and in all honesty whatever my choice will eventually be the cue will never again play exactly as it did as far as throw is concerned, in fact because the original ferrule had shortened and thinned to such an extent that if anything the throw was very minimal so any change in deflection was always going to be tough to deal with. As far as playing all the other shots the cue is fine, maybe a tad stiffer but sound nonetheless.

Id also thought of changing for a smaller thinner ferrule but as i had done an excellent job first time round i didnt want to tempt fate with it and maybe not get it seated properly again. If i ditch the cue and use the Craftsman as my main the job will be no easier even though its a cracker of a cue its a different throw again but thats wood for you each piece is different. As Simon at Craftsman told me they could make half a dozen of my spec cue all identical and each of them would play slightly differently to each other.

I seen to remember Hendry struggling after his Powerglide was broken, i think he was using an Accuerate that supposedly gave minimal deflection and he just couldnt get on with it as he was still aiming at where he used to account for his original cues deflection. Hes had a couple more since that one too with different tapers and the like, probably still looking for the one that has a feel and throw like his original.

The only way ive found to deal with this is that ive discovered that when i can get a softish to medium blue diamond i find it grips the cue ball more and gives less deflection whereas if i have a hard BD or Elk on it really accentuates the throw, almost pushing the cue ball off line with no grip. This has led me into the finer details of how different pressed tips can affect your game depending on softness/ and brand etc.

As with everything else its only when a problem arises do you get more of an insight into the really technical parts of this great game. I think its nearly better to have lost or broken your original player beyond repair to be able to begin to fully commit to a new cue as the fixed oldie will invariably get the call again and again!

Many thanks Terry for the info and suggestions.