Over the years I have seen snooker cues made from tin with a rubber handle on the butt, carbon fibre to stop warping and the first two-piece cue I saw closed down into a walking stick. But the modern cue is generally made from various woods. The two main shafts used are maple or ash. Maple is a clean wood with no sign of a grain. Ash however has a distinct grain with an array of arrows running along the shaft. Most cues contain a lead weight installed in the shaft. Unless you have the luxury of owning a quality hand-made cue or bespoke hand-made cue. These cues are produced by cue makers who chose woods to create the desired weight and balance. Originally cue were one-piece cues, before the two-piece cue was offered as a choice for easy transportation. Cue extensions become part of snooker although the first extensions resemble a short pipe the cue butt would be jammed into. As these made the cue sound and feel hollow when using, the 3/4 cue was developed. This allowed the butt of the cue to be removed via a thread and the extension to be screwed into its place. The popularity of these extensions lead to quick release joints being fitted to the butt end of cues as standard and the extensions came in a telescopic twist grip fitting form. This allows the player to extend their cue to the appropriate length.

 

Cues become fitted with a ferrule, this was due to the cue itself splitting due to the amount of impact the cue sustained over its years. Brass ferrules became a part of the snooker cue. Now we have the new titanium ferrule which is a stronger metal which doesn’t oxidise. Plus, regular tip changes can reduce the brass ferrule size. But with titanium being a stronger metal, this issue is less likely. Suggestions that titanium ferrules reduce deflection are widely advertised. And this could be quite true, as it’s noticeable when breaking off that the cue ball doesn’t appear to curve while travelling to the pack.

 

The modern tip comes in all shapes and sizes. Full leather tips or laminate leather tips. All pre-compressed.

Before the modern tip came along, the most used tip was a leather tip that usually didn’t last long. Personally I was forever removing the tips due to the fibres breaking down in the tips. Once a tip was fitted, it would take a number of weeks to bed-in or harden.

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The modern tip is pretty playable as soon as it’s fitted. I would always suggest, once you have a tip you like (make and manufacture), stick with it. This is due to the fact that all these tips play fractionally different. But I believe there is a tip for every individual’s way of play. But do try tips till you fined one you like. Unfortunately tips have shot up in price but this could be down to the development of time as they last much longer, respond much better and fit much easier than they ever used to.