Jacoby’s
By Garret Troop
D
epending on what you are looking for in the wide variety of pool cue shafts, it is essential to find the one you are most comfortable using. It can be tough to decide on the best shaft for you and your playing style with all the options out on the market. It is choosing between a standard shaft with a straight maple and differing tapers. Or the laminated shafts, mainly composed of different sections of wood cut into pieces that are then glued tighter in other formats and then turned down and tapered. The latest trend is with the carbon fiber shafts that are very stiff and have a significantly low deflection feel on the table. Also, there are torrification wood shafts, better known as a KeilWood shaft. What is your preference? There is a process of taking the wood and baking it at high temperatures for a sustained period. This process takes all the moisture, sap, and sugar out of the wood, makes it stiffer, and gives it a golden baked look just like honey. The name KeilWood is trademarked, and although the process has been around for about the last five years, it’s just getting popular in the previous year or so. This process is also prevalent in the music industry for guitars and other wooden instruments. Each shaft looks and feels different, and it’s up to you to find the shaft that meets and exceeds your specific splaying style. The KeilWood shaft is made out of a straight piece of maple, so you would naturally think that there is little to no LD “low deflection” properties, but that is not the case. The wood Torrication process is about an ounce lighter than your standard shaft giving the shaft its feel on the table. The lightness helps with the LD properties and provides the shaft with a unique feel of a classic wooden shaft that also 39
