Snooker Cue Shaft Materials

[paul_b]

Hi Guys & Girls,

This is my first post here. So, first thing first and a big hello to all the forum members.

I would like to ask a question out of nothing more than curiosity. What attributes does ash, maple (and any other wood that is used for making snooker cue shafts) have that make them suitable for this task? And, why can't any other woods be used?

Thanks in advance,

Paul

[DeanH]

There are a few cue makers on here and I hope they contribute to the properties of the wood required to make a cue
Cue shafts have been made from the following across the years:
Ash
Maple
Tiger (curly) maple
Bird's eye maple
Hornbeam
Service tree
Ramin
Amaranth
Wenge
White hickory
Oak

and I am sure there have been others

[narl]

Andy hunter has a video up on shaft materials, according to him ash and maple just became the "go to" woods because they were relatively easy to come by, not because they were the best suited for it.

[Davebarker1978]

Jim Black made an unusual cue using purple heart for the shaft. Unfortunately due to photobucket you can't see the photo's on the thread anymore.

I would like to try a Pearwood shaft.

[DeanH]

Jim Black made an unusual cue using purple heart for the shaft. Unfortunately due to photobucket you can't see the photo's on the thread anymore.

I would like to try a Pearwood shaft.

so he did, IIRC he said it was bit of a pig to work with but came out very nice

[Davebarker1978]

so he did, IIRC he said it was bit of a pig to work with but came out very nice

Yeah you are correct. It was impressive workmanship even Trevor White commented it on his achievement in producing it.

[narl]

Jim Black made an unusual cue using purple heart for the shaft. Unfortunately due to photobucket you can't see the photo's on the thread anymore.

I would like to try a Pearwood shaft.

I had a pearwood mannock, its silky smooth, more so than maple even.

[vmax]

Any medium density hardwood will do. Wood is wood and there are crap pieces of ash as there are crap pieces of pearwood and maple.
What one must steer clear of are the very dense hardwoods as they are so hard they tend to behave like stone.
On the butt end they are fine as they're not taking the hit, but they are so dense there will be little to no flex in a shaft made of say ironwood and like stone it will eventually crack and chip under the stress of repeated impacts, especially where the ferrule is fitted.

Elm is known as the wood that never sleeps so it would be very difficult to get a shaft to stay dead straight so it's best to steer clear of that as well, and yew and there may be others that behave the same but I'm unaware of any at present.

[paul_b]

Hi Fellow Forum Members,

There are some really interesting and informative answers here. This question came about after a conversation that I had with some friends at the local snooker club. We happened to be looking at some photos of past Wimbledon champions. Fred Perry, the great tennis player who was around in the 1930's and won 3 consecutive Wimbledon championships was using a wooden racket that may well have had cat gut strings and then we compared that racket to the rackets that are used by the players of today. Most rackets are now made of composite materials that include graphite, carbon fibre or fibreglass. These materials allow for more aerodynamic shapes to be made which increases the speed in which the racket can travel through the air. In other words, the equipment used in tennis has evolved throughout the years. We then looked at some photos of past snooker world champions. Joe Davis, the 20 year world champion, who was around in the 1920's, 30's and 40's was using what looked like a cue with an ash shaft and an ebony butt. As we all know, the majority of modern day players use cues that have hardly changed over the years. I understand that snooker cues do not travel through the air at 120 mph. However, it does beg the question as to whether or not composite materials could be used to make snooker cues?

[DeanH]

It has been tried with other materials in the past; there was the metal (ali?) cue (60s?), graphite (80s?), carbon fibre (70/80s?) - there were two types one was just a wrap around a wooden core (supposedly to stop warping) and a solid one, (very expensive IIRC)
Now there are laminated cues, whether radially or longitudinally, often with different woods than the usual listed previously

The analogue of the tennis racket is ok to a point except that the racket itself does not interact with the ball; the racket is purely a carrier for the strings and the change in material is to allow faster delivery/faster change in direction, etc. (as you say )
Has the material of the strings changed as much as the body material, from "catgut"?

The feel of the cue contacting the cue ball is very direct with no intermediate material (strings) interfering; the tip material is the nearest comparison to the string, and as you probably know the type of tip can alter how a single cue feels on the shot to the player. Tips have changed over the years, old leather tips with a wafer, direct tips (no wafer required), laminated tips, etc; but often still the same material, leather
There are other tip materials out there - usually for the US pool scene, but don't know of anyone who has tried them for snooker
anyone?

[Terry Davidson]

Just had a student in with a fiberglass snooker cue and it seemed to play OK

[Davebarker1978]

Just had a student in with a fiberglass snooker cue and it seemed to play OK

Ever tried graphite? Remember these years ago, never heard of grain filler falling out.

[paul_b]

Hi Fellow Forum Members,

Thank you to all the people who commented on this subject. It has been really interesting reading them all. I do hope that some of the custom cue makers that frequent this forum will chip in and tell us all the different materials that they have used to make their cues, including, of course, all the different types of woods that they have used. A friend of mine has a cue and the shaft is made from pear wood, it is quite flexible and whilst it is good for generating spin, it is very easy to lose accuracy with it, so much so that my friend never really uses it as he prefers his cue with an ash shaft. I have asked him on numerous occasions if he would sell it to me, (I think it would make an awesome 8 ball pool cue) but he doesn't seem interested in doing that.

Thanks Paul

[bigandyg]

As I have said before my early cues were made from any old brush shafts that were lying around and they all sold.

[jonny66]

As I have said before my early cues were made from any old brush shafts that were lying around and they all sold.

Did any go to good players? Nice to think there's someone out there making tons with a broomstick.