Pool Cue Tip Wears Out Too Fast
7/19/2007 12:32:47 PM
Pool Cue Tip Wears Out Too Fast
I have noticed that I just can't make a cue tip last. I got through the pool cue tips like crazy, and they just don't seem to last. It seems that I just get the tip playing and feeling just right, and it comes time to replace it!
I do constantly fight with it and tool it so that it keeps its shape, and I do like to keep it fairly rough so that it holds it chalk well.
What can I do here? Are there different tools that I can use or a different type of tip? Right now I'm using Elk tips, but I find that they just don't hold up. I use a Tip Pik to keep the tip in the condition I like, and I also use sandpaper to keep it rough. Sometime I'll even use a fairly rough file. I just lightly spin the tip on the file to loosen the particles or fibers or whatever to keep the cue tip holding its chalk.
Pool Cue Tip Wears Out Too Fast
Replies & Comments
cuebald on 7/19/2007 4:17:56 PM
I just got a mental image of you laying the cue on the groud and spinning it trying to start a fire.
I'd actually just leave the tip as is, instead of shaping it at all, so long as it plays normally and does not miscue. Are you doing it because you think it does not look right? I usually (90% of the time) just leave the cue tip alone. My cue tips are about twenty five cents each, and last me about 5 months.
kyle on 7/21/2007 4:21:00 PM
You can try soaking the tip in milk and pressing it, I hate new tips also the pressing from what I understand simulates the compression your tip would endure after a few months play. You can also try taking the tip down half way. If your using a blue elk it's a fairly soft tip you may want to try a hard or medium tip. If all else fails and you want to continue using a soft tip try a layered tip (moori), they're more expensive but hold hold there shape.
Ross on 7/22/2007 1:21:14 PMKyle, thanks for the advice. I never would have thought of milk. What does milk do? Also, what do you use to press it? I like the idea of this procedure if it will make the new tip feel as it does after a month of play, as you say.
I may also try switching to a harder tip if this does not work.
Thanks again for the advice.
Ross I'm not quite sure if it does anything more than softens the tip so you don't break the fibers when you squeeze it ( I just put it between to pieces of hardwood in a vice). Not sure if it has to be milk either I've always heard you use goats milk, I used milk from a cow 2% lol. They're called milk duds and are used by alot of the philipino players.
dartman on 8/12/2007 1:37:06 AM
On the hardness scale of 1-4 Elkmaster Tips (blue) are rated a 1 with 1 being the softest. More then likely the reason you have fast wear is the soft tip. Try going to a harder tip like a Royal Oak (#2) or a LePro (#3) or a medium layered tip. This should cure the wear (and mushrooming) problem. LePro tips were typically used as standard tips on a lot of production cues.
