Advice on break Cue

[cswetta]

Hey, I own a Lucasi L-2004NB and it plays great, in addition I also have a pure fibre glass cue which is custom made. In regards I can break quite well stopping the white ball in the center most times with a regular pool house cue. I wanted to know weather or not my fibre glass cue is strong enough to withstand a break? I dont have the cue with me at the moment so I havent had the chance to try it out as I am overseas. If not I would like to buy a break cue and I would not want to spend alot, no more than $150, please advice thank you

[audiopro]

I have an old Viking cue with a shaft that was turned down to about 11mm, and it was the best break cue I have used, up until I broke the joint...

[nathar]

Another option would be, if you could find a house cue that you break particularly well with, you could ask the establishment if they would be willing to sell the cue. Being that most pool halls or bars with pool tables order one piece cues by the dozen, then the likelyhood that they would sell you a particular cue isn't bad. Or you could order a one piece cue similiar to the one you like to break with and just have a cue smith install a joint in it and you will likely still get out for under $100.00-$150.00. 8)

[cswetta]

thanks guys, but do you recommend any good break and jump cues in the market? that are not too expensive

[nathar]

For your price range, you might like the Fury Jump Break. There is also the CueTec Jump Break. I have used both, and the Fury is the better of the two(IMO). I now break with the Predator BK2 and love it. But that is twice what you are looking to spend. If you aren't in that much of a hurry, save up for another month or two, and get the break cue that you really want. You will be far happier in the end. 8)

[audiopro]

Combo break/jump cues are junk in my opinion. They each require different characteristics. One requires a shaft with a lot of deflection, jump cues.. And the other benefits from low deflection, break cues..

[cswetta]

Yea yea i know that, i dont want a combo cue, i can spend the money to buy a cue such as the BK2 but i dont know if its really worth it, i dunno maybe thats just me. If it is worth it i will buy it and do you recommend any good jump cues?

[audiopro]

Can't speak to the break cue part... But jump cues... I can easily jump from less than a ball away, with my Bunjee. I've even done it Mike Massey style, one handed...

[nathar]

I personally don't care for j/b cues myself. I was just offering options in the price range given. If it helps, I was in love with the BK2 the first time I hit with it. It just feels right. (At least for me)

There is also the break cue that Skor was using that I think goes for less than $100.00.

[skor]

That was a jump/break combo cue (that I sold and I wish I didn't...)

If you have a good straight stroke then deflection of a break cue is not something to worry or care about so a jump/break cue will work fine.

At the moment I sold all my break cues and currently I use a cheap decal cue :oops: and I got a shaft with a phenolic tip/ferrule.... it works ok but it's not it... I'll probably be getting a new break jump/cue in the future but I don't want to spend any money at the moment...
I still have my Mezz Air-Shooter jump cue and it's a great jump cue, I also like the Jumster.

[jkregan]

Search EBay for a "Panther" under sporting goods. Among the listing should be one that mentions "unique wood joint". Take a look at that. It breaks well and jumps well, both broken down and assembled. Should cost you about $75 all together. It's no BK2 but it is a fairly good compromise at a price that doesn't hurt too bad.

[cswetta]

Guys why would i choose a bk2 over an xbreaker or a sledgehammer? or vice versa

[nathar]

Your best bet would be to frequent your local pool rooms and see if you can meet anyone that uses these cues. Gain their friendship and ask if you can break with their cue while you are playing them. That is what I did, and the first time I hit with the BK2 I was sold. That was also after using 6 other break cues. CueTec/Fury/BK/BK2/and 2 custom made break cues.

I could have gotten either of the custom made break cues cheaper than the BK2. They were both just converted house cues. But I liked the feel and balance of the BK2 more. So I just saved up for a couple of months and got what I wanted.

PS
The two converted house cues came in 2nd and 3rd behind the BK2 IMHO.

[Death Tent]

Sorry, but what is a house cue??

[skor]

A house cue is the one piece cues that you find at the club and use it if you don't have you own cue.
it belongs to the club (house) so it a house cue...

http://www.seyberts.com/pool_cues/series-series_id-101.htm

[dhammis]

I've been using a Cuetec Thunderbolt for years now with a regular hard tip on it. Recently I changed the tip out for a phenolic and I'm loving it. Having physically broken pool balls (into pieces) with my break before I changed the tip I'm curious how long it will take before I do it again, as I'm getting much more force out of the break now than before.

All of that being said, a cue with a stiff shaft and a good hard tip, whether phenolic or not, should suffice quite well for a break cue.

[poohkiller]

All of that being said, a cue with a stiff shaft and a good hard tip, whether phenolic or not, should suffice quite well for a break cue.

I agree with you on that one but perhaps you should change your ball set... It really is a weird thing that they break into pieces...

[skor]

I split the CB into two pieces once ob a break shot....

although a stiffer shaft with a stronger taper will give more energy on the break shot, I prefer a more flexible shaft, this is the main reason why I like the Predator BK-2 so much.

[McChen]

wow, i have never heard of a ball being split before! that is pretty cool, i would like to see a video of that :)

[Death Tent]

I've never broken the cue ball but I once shattered an old house cue.

[poohkiller]

I've only heard about a 1-ball that shattered and it was on TV - I didn't see it, a player told me about it. You decide whether it's true or not.

[McChen]

that would be a good idea for a trick cue ball. like how they have those exploding golf balls!

[poohkiller]

Yeah, and after breaking it you could attach the two pieces again! I wonder though whether the two pieces of the ball would damage the other balls running across the table after the break...

[McChen]

i guess you could also mess up someone's cue. probably a lot of bad things could go wrong with this idea, hehe

[dhammis]

All of that being said, a cue with a stiff shaft and a good hard tip, whether phenolic or not, should suffice quite well for a break cue.

I agree with you on that one but perhaps you should change your ball set... It really is a weird thing that they break into pieces...

Oh yeah. I did that the same day. I was using the standard set that came with my table. I switched to Aramith balls and haven't had a problem since.

[skor]

I chipped a few object balls from cheap sets on break shots, it's always happened near the number... I guess that it's the weak spot on the ball, even had the whole number chip off a 10ball of a brand new (cheap) set at the pool hall I used to play at...

I wish I kept the 2 CB parts that I split...

[poohkiller]

I managed to find a few pics about probably the worse ball set, cloth, cue and pool hall in the world. I knew at first sight that something is wrong here - very wrong...

To be honest, I don't really know how could this happen to this ball as the cues should break sooner than the balls (see the other picture...)

You may want to check the cloth out on this one... and of course the lack of "jointcollarorwhatever" missing from the cue... I was very concerned about breaking the cue into two pieces after a bit more powerful break - however that cue worth less than the tip on my cue :roll:

P.S.: of course I did not take my cue there with me.