I've read a lot on this forum about people who say in a box of 50 Triangle tips, only 4-5 were good. My question is how can you tell if the Triangle is a good tip or not. Thanks in advance
Triangle Tip Question
- Thread starter jimmy91988
- Start date
Look for the ones with the smoothest back. Then sand the coating off the back. Fill your sink up with water. Throw a few that you've picked out & sanded into the water. The good ones sink immediately. Trash the floaters.
Also...they'll all seem better if you cut them with a razor instead of lathe tooling. A new sharp blade and use mositure. Wet a papertowel and use it to wet the tip as you trim/crown it with the razor. The sharp blade combined with the water will keep from stressing the leather...it'll cut smoother, cleaner, and the tip will stay firmer/more stable and will last longer without mushrooming. You are basically using the Tiger Sniper install method. Since I started using this method on all tips I've had MUCH less waste of ruined tips...especially with the cheaper Triangles, Elks, etc.:wink:
Also...they'll all seem better if you cut them with a razor instead of lathe tooling. A new sharp blade and use mositure. Wet a papertowel and use it to wet the tip as you trim/crown it with the razor. The sharp blade combined with the water will keep from stressing the leather...it'll cut smoother, cleaner, and the tip will stay firmer/more stable and will last longer without mushrooming. You are basically using the Tiger Sniper install method. Since I started using this method on all tips I've had MUCH less waste of ruined tips...especially with the cheaper Triangles, Elks, etc.:wink:
Thanks for the great tip, especially putting the Triangles in water. I've installed a number of them only to find out they were trash when I tried to shape them.....then I had to cut them off and start over. When you do get a good Triangle tip on your shaft you have a good tip. The same goes for a LePro tip. If you get a good LePro it will play well also and this inconsistency is what caused me to go to layered tips. I like Triangle tips a lot, but i've had so many duds it's frustrating.....
James
They are all good........
hi there jimmy,
the tips are all good.what happens when they are cut to shape or cut with the lathe it tears the grain of the leather. This was the case with le pros also.
I have put these tips on by hand and sand them down real slow on the side with 220 sandpaper stappled on a block of wood. When it is sanded down slowly the tip keeps its strength and grain therefor being as solid as a rock. Yet it is still soft.
If a person using the lathe realizes the tip has kind of lost its integrety. Looks like you can pull it apart. This wasn't the bad tip but the grain of the leather was destroyed.
Now rather than put on another tip you can just burnish the side by wetting it and turning the lathe real fast. It will firm the tip up temporarily but it will not last long. It will mushroom and the side will be as hard as cement. Kind of a chink hit when you strike the ball. It will not [play consistent at all.
There are some really good cue guys that do a great job but the ones that don't understand this need to try this and learn.
I get no bad tips in the box. Out of 50 i get 50 good ones.
It's how they are installed.
If someone thinks different they could send me the worlds worst that they think triangle and i'll put it on and that player will think it's the best tip they ever had.
The drawback is it takes about 1/2 hour to put on instead of 10 minutes with the lathe.
I'm not trying to take any business from cue guys that put on tips but they need to experiment with what i say because what i'm telling you is 1000% the way it is.
I did a thread on here explaining how to put the triangle on correctly. It's call the perfect tip.
Good luck geno..............
hi there jimmy,
the tips are all good.what happens when they are cut to shape or cut with the lathe it tears the grain of the leather. This was the case with le pros also.
I have put these tips on by hand and sand them down real slow on the side with 220 sandpaper stappled on a block of wood. When it is sanded down slowly the tip keeps its strength and grain therefor being as solid as a rock. Yet it is still soft.
If a person using the lathe realizes the tip has kind of lost its integrety. Looks like you can pull it apart. This wasn't the bad tip but the grain of the leather was destroyed.
Now rather than put on another tip you can just burnish the side by wetting it and turning the lathe real fast. It will firm the tip up temporarily but it will not last long. It will mushroom and the side will be as hard as cement. Kind of a chink hit when you strike the ball. It will not [play consistent at all.
There are some really good cue guys that do a great job but the ones that don't understand this need to try this and learn.
I get no bad tips in the box. Out of 50 i get 50 good ones.
It's how they are installed.
If someone thinks different they could send me the worlds worst that they think triangle and i'll put it on and that player will think it's the best tip they ever had.
The drawback is it takes about 1/2 hour to put on instead of 10 minutes with the lathe.
I'm not trying to take any business from cue guys that put on tips but they need to experiment with what i say because what i'm telling you is 1000% the way it is.
I did a thread on here explaining how to put the triangle on correctly. It's call the perfect tip.
Good luck geno..............
Very good.........
you are so right on what the lathe does to the leather. If you take it one step further and don't cut it with the razor but sand it slowly with 220 on a block of wood all the tips turn out great. Every tip will be a winner... And the player will want one put on the same way.
Loved your knowlegde about the lathe.
you are so right on what the lathe does to the leather. If you take it one step further and don't cut it with the razor but sand it slowly with 220 on a block of wood all the tips turn out great. Every tip will be a winner... And the player will want one put on the same way.
Loved your knowlegde about the lathe.
Thanks alot guys! Love this forum!
i just got a 14mm triangle and it cut a lot smoother when i put it on. it doesn't feel anywhere near as dry as the normal 13mm ones. i get the feeling i finally got a good one
I don’t seem to remember much, if anything about LePro or Triangle only having a few good tips in a box until the pricey layered tips came along. Could it be a propaganda campaign by the layered tip makers and/or their sales people? Maybe I’ve never had a bad LePro or Triangle in 60 yrs because I always put mine on myself w/o a lathe. Heating them up on a lathe has got to change the material in a way it wasn’t meant to be changed by the tip makers. If there was truly only a few good tips to a box don’t you think the companies would have fixed that by now? Johnnyt
i've noticed a lot of inconsistency when using non layered tips. usually run into a lot of over hardened ones that don't seem to hold chalk well.
bite em
You can tell immediately which are hard and which are mushy. Really!
You can tell immediately which are hard and which are mushy. Really!
So, I'm a bit curious here: You hold a new/sharp razor in your hand while the lathe is turning a very slow speed? Or, do you hold the razor in your hand and turn the lathe slowly by hand? Maybe a photo of how you do it?
I install a number of tips for friends, and myself, of course. I'd be interested to try to turn the tip to size with the lathe tooling ..... just so I could compare the two methods.
How exactly does one make a Milk Dud?
rough up the sides and top and bottom with sandpaper, soak in milk for a week or so then take them out and press them in a vice for a week under a significant amount of pressure. Install and trim to fit.
I've been using Triangle tips for 20 years and I have never had a problem and I install them by hand myself.
Sometimes I wonder if some people don't complain about a tips performance to keep from admiting they made a mistake. You know someone might say, I put on XX tip and I miscued all the time... ask them how often they chalk and they say oh every 3 or 4 shots... or they might just miss a shot and it's easier to blame the tip, the shaft, the cue that it is to admit they need to practice and / or develop good fundamentals.
I have tried Mori's and Kamui's but while they play ok, they don't "beat" the Triangle tips I've used and still use. Now my tips are pretty old. I have purchased two boxes of them both several years ago and they play great. I can't speak to what's being made currently but I would hope they didn't go an change the way they made them.
my two cents on the issue.
i've found that the 15mm triangles are much better than the smaller sizes. atlas has them, they're more expensive and only 40 tips per box, but very consistent and thicker as well. i can't rememeber when I had a bad one! i heard that the 15mm are from a different part of the animal, where the hide is thicker. i also like to press triangles before installing, gives a firmer hit. and as usual sharp tools are essential to not ruining the tip during install
please do me a favor of using Search function, there is a dozen of threads around. You might type "milk dud" in search field and refine search to my nickname in the right field, I described my method. No need to soak it for a week and press for a week either, overnight is okay. 24 hrs more than enough.
I have used them for 2 yrs and never had a bad one
When I started playing seriously in the early '70s I played with LePros. I can't remember how many I had to have done over. I heard then that you would probably only find four or five good ones in a box of fifty. If you could find a good one they worked fine but I had a good many duds.