Initially shaping the flat tip w/o a lathe

whitewolf said:
What is the fastest and best way to shape a new installed tip?

Hard tips are murder for me to sit there with a file and shape the tip. When I finally get the tip to a near nickle shape, I finish it off with a Willard nickel or dime tool.

I was thinking of buying an 'arbor adaptor' for use with a drill. On the end of this tool is flat piece of metal, which I could super glue one of those cube shapers. The only problem I can envision with this is centering the cube. Right now anything would beat the 20 minutes it takes to roughly shape the tip.

I have been to Muellers and Pool Dawg and have not found anything, except for a $99 tool - but it is hard to tell if this will work and what it even does. Muellers is out of stock anyway on this item.

My last resort will to use a sanding wheel on my drill.

Thanks in advance.
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Ray - you can buy or make a shaft spinner for a drill like others have mentioned. Search "shaft spinner"

also, with a Williards or similar, I put the tip down and go back and forth like I'm making fire. It's a b*tch sometimes, which is probably the reason to make or buy a shaft spinner arbor. I made mine out of a cane or seat tip from Walgreens, but I did have to make it on a lathe to center it up.
 
WoodyJ said:
Here's what I use. Gives a dime shape.

http://www.muellers.com/Porper-Cue-Rite-Tip-Shaper,1499.html

Here's what the blade looks like inside.

http://www.muellers.com/Cue-Rite-Tip-Shaper-Extra-Blade,1500.html

I wrap a bit of masking tape around the ferrule and also back an inch or so on the shaft so that the shaper fits snugly on the shaft and is centered. Crank slowly and empty out the tip chips often. If you go too fast or too hard on a layered tip it will crumble the tip into pieces.
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These are the items I was tryint to talk about. Thanks!
 
Cornerman said:
Ray - you can buy or make a shaft spinner for a drill like others have mentioned. Search "shaft spinner"

also, with a Williards or similar, I put the tip down and go back and forth like I'm making fire. It's a b*tch sometimes, which is probably the reason to make or buy a shaft spinner arbor. I made mine out of a cane or seat tip from Walgreens, but I did have to make it on a lathe to center it up.
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Thanks Fred!
 
Just get this

Look at the web site, last4ever.net

While I typically use my lathe and a razor to rough shape it you can round the edges with a razor and then quickly get an exact nickel or dime shape using the tool

You could use the tool from the initial flat state but it is easier to knock off the edges with a razor

Joel
 
MoonshineMattK said:
This tool is so aggressive I only use it for initial shaping.
It takes off too much for general upkeep.
If you get one be careful you can whittle the tip to nothing before you know what happened.


http://www.seyberts.com/products/Sandman_Tip_Tool-58-24.html
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I will keep this in mind. But for $9 I bought a file, which is still a 20 minute process on a hard tip. Is this tool more aggressive than a file? It looks kind of short to me. Maybe I will go look for a more agressive file.

Thanks!
 
Just retipped my first cue ever. I put a Kamui Black med on a pred 314 shaft. 12.75mm tip with a nickel profile. The shaping of the new tip took more time than the entire rest of the process combined. Eventually the most aggressive thing I could find was the insert in the Porper Big Shaver. Even then, it took me about 45 min. Probably could have done it in about 20 if I wasn't trying to keep the tip from overheating.

I found myself using that "fire starter" method. But be warned...this is literally how you start a fire with sticks. You don't want to burn the tip.

Incidentally, the tip came out flawless. I probably should have shaved a bit more of the tip before sanding it into the ferrule, as it the sanding part took about 15 minutes or more. But I decided it was better to error on the side of caution. An extra 20 minutes of sanding the tip is better than cutting it off and starting over because I took too much.

FWIW, the black Kamui Med was a real honest ***** to shape. lol ...Still cheaper than a 500.00 lathe though.
 
By hand: get the right file and it's five minutes.

With a drill: buy the right bolt, spin it counter to the screw on direction of the shaft, use a cotton glove on the hand that holds the shaft and a razor blade in the other hand, shape as desired. Takes a little practice but once you get the hang of it it's super easy and fast. You can also use a chisel if you like.

I probably put on 300 tips over a period of five years at tournaments using this set up. When I was done the tip looked better than factory new.

I also rigged up a velcro strap on the drill trigger to give me more control than came with the drill's dial. If you wanted to get REALLY fancy you can make yourself a steady rest to fit between your legs to hold the shaft in place. I did fine with my glove.

I started using the glove because using a towel is dangerous. One slip of concentration and it binds up on the shafts and rips the whole thing out of your hand and your natural inclination is to let go. With a razor in one hand and a flopping spinning towel wrapped shaft out of control it's not a good mix.
 
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