I am selling my current Predator cue and purchasing a new one. I'm going to immediately change the ferrule because I don't particularly like Predator's short ferrule. One of Dennis Searing's ivory ferrules are going on. Have any others had better sucess by changing Predator's ferrule to one you are more comfy with?
Kato~~~getting back to pool baby.
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If you do that, you will lose the "low deflection" feature of the Predator. The reason it deflects so little is that it has very little mass at the end of the shaft. If you replace their short plastic ferrule with a regular sized ivory one, you might as well not get a Predator to begin with.
Disclaimer:
Myself, I hate the way Predator shafts feel. The low deflection doesn't mean too much to me. I am used to compensating for deflection, and that is just one of many variables that can affect whether a shot with english is successful or not. Almost always when I miss a shot on which I am applying english, I'm not missing it because of deflection.
The ferrule material is "unique" and although it is not the only design factor to contribute to the low deflection (removal of weight from the end and the design of the shaft are also important) you will be eliminating an important part of the design.
"Previously devised ferrules have been formed of ivory which is substantially harder than that of the material used to form the shaft"
"materials suitable for forming the ferrule include:
CYCOLAC 2800 GPX (General Electric ABS) modulus of elasticity approx. 0.24.times.10.sup.6 psi, and
ISOPLAST 101 (Dow Rigid Urethane) modulus of elasticity approx. 0.25.times.10.sup.6 psi"
It looks like they did not find ivory to be a "suitable" material.
Ken
You are correct that the ferrule is not the only part of the low deflection design, and that changing the ferrule will reduce the effectiveness, but possibly not eliminate it. I realized after I posted that I didn't phrase it accurately.
Mike, I didn't mean to find fault with your post but just give a little more info. I think the ferrule material and length are the most important parts of the design and changing the ferrule to ivory would virtually eliminate the claimed advantages of the shaft.
I have to be careful what I say. Two of the "sages" of the board inisisted that the shaft design was not patented. I suggested that they read the patent; apparently they couldn't take the time and had to blindly insist that they knew I was wrong. I should have provided a quote from the patent since it is necessary to scroll down past the summary to read it:
"Although the shaft MAY be formed of a solid cross section, in a PREFERRED embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the shaft of the cue is formed of a plurality of sections 20, 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 which have a generally pie or sector shape with an arcuate outer surface. Each section 20, 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 is formed from the same piece of wood. However, in forming the shaft, adjacent sections 20, 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 of the single piece of wood are arranged adjacent sections which were non-adjacent to each other in the original piece of wood. Thus, sections 20 and 26, for example, may have originally been adjacent to each other in the original piece of wood, but are arranged on opposite diametral sides of the assemblied shaft. Importantly, the grain in each section 20, 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30 is oriented to extend toward the longitudinal axis or center of the shaft as shown in FIG. 4. This is believed to provide greater strength for the shaft." [emphasis added]
Ken
If I remember correctly, Predator shafts are guaranteed but if you change the ferrule that guarantee is void. This may or may not be important to you.
May I suggest you contact Predator, ask them about a ivory ferrule, then go from there.
Troy
After I accidentally broke my Predator ferrule in half, I had it replaced with a normal ferrule, not really understanding what was involved until the cue maker who did it related what he had to do (think it was Manzino, but not sure).
The Predator ferrule isn't put on in the normal way of countersinking the shaft into a narrower peg to fit up INTO their ferrule. Therefore, to put a normal ferrule on, he had to do that countersinking/shaving off of the end of the shaft, to make it the smaller diameter, to fit into the new standard ferrule.
Now, did I end up with an increased mass at the tip? Maybe, although maybe not, considering the wood that was taken off to accommodate the new ferrule. Is it now longer or shorter than before? Again, probably not, with part of the longer length of the ferrule going OVER the end of the shaft, whereas before the shorter ferrule was ON the end of the shaft.
And the shaft is still hollow for some part of the tip-end of the shaft, reducing the mass out there as was intended in the original design. While I have no idea how differently the shaft now plays than when entirely original, you could see if you can tell a difference by shooting the two cues (mine and yours) together, side by side, on shots that cause significant deflection.
I'll reduce my consulting fee on this out of professional courtesy and personal friendship, LOL!
I don't mind people finding fault in my posts. Keeps me honest. [img]/ccboard/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
<blockquote><font class="small">Quote: Troy:</font><hr> If I remember correctly, Predator shafts are guaranteed but if you change the ferrule that guarantee is void. This may or may not be important to you. Troy <hr></blockquote>
Correct me if I'm wrong, Troy, but not only does Predator want you to only use their special ferrule, they don't sell them to cue repairmen for aftermarket replacement. They want you to send the shafts back to them to have the regular ferrule replaced if needed.
Thanks guys for your imput. Yes, the warranty will be voided but oh well. Next, Dennis knows the job will be tricky and still agreed to do it. We'll find out soon if I made another mistake or not.
R.J.
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