Tip Tools

jay helfert

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
Just got a buzz from Joel Pope about a new tip shaper he is coming out with, called the Last4ever. I'm looking forward to seeing it and using it on my cue. This is one tool we kind of take for granted and it may be the most important tool in our bag, hence there have been dozens of variations of tip shapers over the years. Most of us carry one in our case at all times. Right!

My personal favorite is the steel Willard's Tool. What a beauty that is, and it also will last a lifetime. When I travel overseas I usually take this tool and some scotch brite to carry in my pocket. That way, I can pull a house cue off the wall and work the tip and shaft to make it play good. Old habits die hard!

But I'm thinking of all the shapers I've used over the years. The most successful and widely used one had to be the Tip Tapper, endorsed by Lou Butera. They must have sold a million of them. The manufacturer was a buddy of Lou's whose name I forget right now. He used to follow Lou around to tournaments and sweat his games.

Others include the Cue Cube, Ultimate Tip Tool, Brad Scuffer and the new one that I really like, the Gator Grip by Kamui. Which one do you prefer and why? Let's see what Joel comes up with.
 
Willard's Shaper for me...have the same one now (nickel bevel) for 24 years and still going strong. Just bought a dime bevel one and keep both on a key chain in my case.
 
West Point 1987 said:
Willard's Shaper for me...have the same one now (nickel bevel) for 24 years and still going strong. Just bought a dime bevel one and keep both on a key chain in my case.
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Jim Willard is an example of a man who made money off pool products and poured it right back into the game. He sponsored some monster tournaments twenty years ago outside Chicago. I think the place was called the Pheasant Run Resort in Aurora, IL. All the best players showed up and the prize money was fantastic. I know Buddy won 35K one year and the total purse was something like $150,000. Big money back then.

I finished last in the money and got back $400. Jeff Carter knocked me out 11-10. I remember that :frown:. I think I got a free room and entry fee for helping Scott run the tournament. Hey, I was glad to be there. Seems like ages ago now. We did have some good promoters back then who put their money where their mouth was. Pro pool has always depended on these free lance promoters to create events, mostly out of their love for the game. Nothing's really changed, except now we have Matchroom, Dragon, CSI, Diamond and the Seminole Tribe. To bad all the manufacturers that are left can't get together and sponsor something. The time to promote is when business is bad, but I don't think they get it.

Oh well, tomorrow I'm off to Manila to visit my girl and my daughter, and then work at the World Pool Masters and World Cup of Pool. I love Matchroom events, they do a terrific job of producing first class events. Always great competition and some nice prize money to be won. The World Cup awards 60K to the winning two man team! That's serious change for a pro pool player. I'll let you know how things are going in Manila. There will be ACTION, of that I'm sure. You can't stop pool players from gambling! :cool:
 
jay helfert said:
Just got a buzz from Joel Pope about a new tip shaper he is coming out with, called the Last4ever. I'm looking forward to seeing it and using it on my cue. This is one tool we kind of take for granted and it may be the most important tool in our bag, hence there have been dozens of variations of tip shapers over the years. Most of us carry one in our case at all times. Right!

My personal favorite is the steel Willard's Tool. What a beauty that is, and it also will last a lifetime. When I travel overseas I usually take this tool and some scotch brite to carry in my pocket. That way, I can pull a house cue off the wall and work the tip and shaft to make it play good. Old habits die hard!

But I'm thinking of all the shapers I've used over the years. The most successful and widely used one had to be the Tip Tapper, endorsed by Lou Butera. They must have sold a million of them. The manufacturer was a buddy of Lou's whose name I forget right now. He used to follow Lou around to tournaments and sweat his games.

Others include the Cue Cube, Ultimate Tip Tool, Brad Scuffer and the new one that I really like, the Gator Grip by Kamui. Which one do you prefer and why? Let's see what Joel comes up with.
Click to expand...

I have a tool made by Willard's that is both a shaper and a tapper and, as you said, it will last forever. For some reason, they are hard to find but I'm happy to have a couple. They are great tools and I keep one in each of my cases.

I have to believe the Tip Tapper was patterned after the bastard file that Lou Butera always kept under the counter at his pool room in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. in the late 60's and early 70's. The Tapper is just a smaller version with the same affect on tips. I wish I was smart enough to make that file smaller. :rolleyes:

BTW, long before the Tip Tapper was developed, Lou Butera always carried a Brad Scuffer in his pocket. I picked up that habit back then and I still have one in my pocket whenever I go to the pool room. IMHO, it is the best tool available for quick touch ups to your tip during a match.
 
jay helfert said:
Oh well, tomorrow I'm off to Manila to visit my girl and my daughter, and then work at the World Pool Masters and World Cup of Pool. I love Matchroom events, they do a terrific job of producing first class events. Always great competition and some nice prize money to be won. The World Cup awards 60K to the winning two man team! That's serious change for a pro pool player. I'll let you know how things are going in Manila. There will be ACTION, of that I'm sure. You can't stop pool players from gambling! :cool:
Click to expand...

Hope you have a great trip with your family....Keep it real !!!! :thumbup:
 
jay helfert said:
Just got a buzz from Joel Pope about a new tip shaper he is coming out with, called the Last4ever. I'm looking forward to seeing it and using it on my cue. This is one tool we kind of take for granted and it may be the most important tool in our bag, hence there have been dozens of variations of tip shapers over the years. Most of us carry one in our case at all times. Right!

My personal favorite is the steel Willard's Tool. What a beauty that is, and it also will last a lifetime. When I travel overseas I usually take this tool and some scotch brite to carry in my pocket. That way, I can pull a house cue off the wall and work the tip and shaft to make it play good. Old habits die hard!

But I'm thinking of all the shapers I've used over the years. The most successful and widely used one had to be the Tip Tapper, endorsed by Lou Butera. They must have sold a million of them. The manufacturer was a buddy of Lou's whose name I forget right now. He used to follow Lou around to tournaments and sweat his games.

Others include the Cue Cube, Ultimate Tip Tool, Brad Scuffer and the new one that I really like, the Gator Grip by Kamui. Which one do you prefer and why? Let's see what Joel comes up with.
Click to expand...
For shaping I like a few different grits of sand paper cupped in my hand depending how I am trying to dress my tip. I have never seen any of the tools on the market that could beat sand paper and a file for tip maintenance.

Years ago I saw Lassiter using something that he kept taking out of his pocket but it was in the palm of his hand and you could not see what it was. Later I got the nerve to approach him and ask about what he was doing to his tip. He handed me was was a busted off piece of a file with the edges ground down so it was smooth on the edges and would not cut your hands. It was maybe 3/4 of an inch wide and 1 1/2 inch long. This was long before there was a tip tapper but basically the same thing.
 
I have one like it from Kenny Murrell that works great.

The design of Jeols is common and very functional. I dont think you could go wrong with it.
 
Rich R. said:
I have a tool made by Willard's that is both a shaper and a tapper and, as you said, it will last forever. For some reason, they are hard to find but I'm happy to have a couple. They are great tools and I keep one in each of my cases.

I have to believe the Tip Tapper was patterned after the bastard file that Lou Butera always kept under the counter at his pool room in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. in the late 60's and early 70's. The Tapper is just a smaller version with the same affect on tips. I wish I was smart enough to make that file smaller. :rolleyes:

BTW, long before the Tip Tapper was developed, Lou Butera always carried a Brad Scuffer in his pocket. I picked up that habit back then and I still have one in my pocket whenever I go to the pool room. IMHO, it is the best tool available for quick touch ups to your tip during a match.
Click to expand...


Pre tip tool days I ALWAYS kept a "four-way" file somewhere nearby. You know, the heavy file you can still buy in a hardware store. What a great tool it made for working tips. To this day, if I want to "tenderize" a tip I'll break out my four-way and have at it. I feel like a dinosaur telling you this. :smile:

I once saw Greg Stevens working on his cue in the back of his caddy limo in the parking lot of Le Cue in Houston. He was tapping away with a four-way file. That made my day! ;)
 
macguy said:
For shaping I like a few different grits of sand paper cupped in my hand depending how I am trying to dress my tip. I have never seen any of the tools on the market that could beat sand paper and a file for tip maintenance.

Years ago I saw Lassiter using something that he kept taking out of his pocket but it was in the palm of his hand and you could not see what it was. Later I got the nerve to approach him and ask about what he was doing to his tip. He handed me was was a busted off piece of a file with the edges ground down so it was smooth on the edges and would not cut your hands. It was maybe 3/4 of an inch wide and 1 1/2 inch long. This was long before there was a tip tapper but basically the same thing.
Click to expand...


Another must have for pool players. I have a drawer in my garage stuffed with all different grits of sandpaper, from extra fine to course. I still know how to put on a tip, shape it and clean up the shaft. After I'm done you'd think one of the pro tip repair guys had done it. And I don't use a lathe either! Like I said, old habits die slow! :rolleyes:
 
Tip Tools that combo tools IMHO do maybe one thing right.

A Willard

Proper Mushroom Tool

Tip Tapper

and last 600 Grit & 220 Grit Sandpaper are all I need. Mostly the 220 Grit Sandpaper get use the most, and very infrequently.

These Combo do all tools IMHO are like this useless knife that does nothing will,
gig-swiss-knife.jpg
but a lot of stuff marginal.

A FEW YEAR AGO THIS TOOL WAS DUMPED ON MANY FORUM MEMBERS AS GODS GIFT TOO POOL PLAYERS,
TTDAT.jpg
, BELIEVE THE COMPANY & LIFETIME WARRANTY WENT BUST.:smile:
 
I remember when the Tip Tapper first came out and pretty much all the players in the room we frequented had one. One night I pulled mine out and was knocking away on my tip, so my friend started working his too. Pretty soon I looked around the room and there were about 10 guys all smiling and tapping there tips, making music! :grin: All the non-players in the place were kind of looking like WTH???
 
StrokeofLuck said:
I remember when the Tip Tapper first came out and pretty much all the players in the room we frequented had one. One night I pulled mine out and was knocking away on my tip, so my friend started working his too. Pretty soon I looked around the room and there were about 10 guys all smiling and tapping there tips, making music! :grin: All the non-players in the place were kind of looking like WTH???
Click to expand...

That would have made a great commercial.
 
Last-resort tip care.....

What desperate house-cue tip care techniques have y'all used? Before I owned a cue, I would take a house cue with a glazed or flat tip and shape it against the mortar in a brick wall, which is almost always a good radius and abrasiveness. Then I would lick my thumb and run it around the edge of the tip to moisten and soften it.... then mash it/roll it against a hard table with pressure from the heel of my hand. It would fix most mushrooms, and give a good burnish to the edge. Get the bartender to dab a napkin with some everclear to get the oil off the shaft, and you're ready to go, fellow college student pool players. And if you are out of chalk, you can buy one of those spring-loaded mechanic's grabber tools for about a buck, with the claw on the end, to get old lost chalk out of some old coin-ops. Every Irving Kaye table comes with its own chalk my friends.
 
jay helfert said:
Another must have for pool players. I have a drawer in my garage stuffed with all different grits of sandpaper, from extra fine to course. I still know how to put on a tip, shape it and clean up the shaft. After I'm done you'd think one of the pro tip repair guys had done it. And I don't use a lathe either! Like I said, old habits die slow! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Only the older players would remember this but poolrooms often had files hanging around the room. You went over and gave the tip s few taps now and then or if you were playing with a house cue you may take the cue tip and roll it against the file if it was too hard and tap it down. Players would create the tip the way they wanted it.

There was always one guy in the room that was the master at this and players would hand him their cue and he would go to work on it. Today if you hung a file on the wall no one would know what to do with it. Although I must say I think tips are better today and more consistent and require less attention.
 
I just ordered one from Joel. Looks real good to me. Ive been using the flat stainless steel tapper but the file is not as fine as i would like it.
 
CocoboloCowboy said:
Tip Tools that combo tools IMHO do maybe one thing right.

A Willard

Proper Mushroom Tool

Tip Tapper

and last 600 Grit & 220 Grit Sandpaper are all I need. Mostly the 220 Grit Sandpaper get use the most, and very infrequently.

These Combo do all tools IMHO are like this useless knife that does nothing will,
gig-swiss-knife.jpg
but a lot of stuff marginal.

A FEW YEAR AGO THIS TOOL WAS DUMPED ON MANY FORUM MEMBERS AS GODS GIFT TOO POOL PLAYERS,
TTDAT.jpg
, BELIEVE THE COMPANY & LIFETIME WARRANTY WENT BUST.:smile:
Click to expand...
Cocobolo Cowboy....

I'll put my money where my mouth is... will you :)

I will send you one of my tip tools, if it is the best shaper - scuffer - mushroom repair - burnishing tool you have ever used, pay me for it.

If it is not, just throw it away.

PM me with your preference of Dime or Nickel shape & your mailing address.

Joel
 
At my shop, Robertson Billiards in Tampa Florida, the best selling tip tool is still a simple 10" straight shaper for $4.99. The price is probably the motivator for this though. The Tip Pik is really popular as well, it will last forever. It doesn't shape the tip though. My personal favorite though is the Cuetec 3 in 1 its like a Cue Cube with a Tip Pik built in. Even at $19.99 we sell usually 3-4 a week. Im gonna look into this Joel Pope last4ever tool. The name sounds awesome.
 
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