Another busted shaft, another opportunity to dissect a shaft.  This time, we're looking at the Mezz WD700 shaft.  One of the folks that works here had her ferrule crack on her, so we took off the tip and ferrule to see what was inside.  Here's what we found:

As you can see, the top of the shaft is filled with a foam core.  This is a similar tactic that other shaft makers have used, with the focus being to make the front of the shaft as light as possible without running afoul of Predator's patents.

As we know, Predator has the patent for building a shaft with empty space at the top, so that means everyone else has to find a way to lighten the front end without leaving it hollow.  We've seen OB take a similar approach with the foam core, however unlike the OB shaft, once you get past the 4 or so inches of foam, the rest of the shaft is solid (OB inserts rubber throughout the remainder of the shaft).

Mezz pool cues also use a unique ferrule to reduce the front end weight further.  Instead of using a standard ferrule, they go with their X Ferrule, which is constructed with a lightweight nylon fiber.