Tiger Products - Page 2

Once satisfied with their wraps and tips, research and development began on the concept that eventually became the X-Shaft.  “Our idea was to create a shaft that flexed consistently for improved accuracy, played solid, had maximum feel and could stand up to the rigors of day to day competitive play,” Kalamdaryan says. 

Versatility and workability are the words Corey Harper uses to describe a good playing shaft.  “From my own experience,” he says, “X-Shafts by Tiger Products’ Cross Grain Lamination has achieved the flex consistency needed for building confident shot making in competitive play.”

Consistency, for Tony Kalamdaryan, means selecting the finest materials to build from.  “If you want the best,” he says, “you always come back to natural wood maple shaft, and that’s what we stayed with.”  The design team handmade shaft prototypes, beginning with a four-piece laminated design, then a five-piece model with a round center.  “With further testing, we then moved to the square center and a different method of lamination.”

The square maple center proved to be the key to delivering power without compromising accuracy: eight corners, four inside and four from the outside between the inside four, transfer the impact through the shaft.  Once that was achieved, the team designed a ferrule that was, on average, twenty to forty percent lighter to reduce tip-end weight induced deflection.  “Very strong,” Kalamdaryan says, “but soft enough to keep the tip on the ball longer than standard, making it easier to spin and draw the cue ball.”

Satisfied with the finished product, Tiger began production.  “We were still in the midst of developing a new shaft turning technology,” Kalamdaryan says, “so we called on some friends.”  Friends with considerable expertise in the art of turning shaft blanks: Ned Morris of Morris Custom Cues in Desert Hot Springs, California, and Richard Smithlin of Smithlin Custom Cues in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Continued on page 3

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