Initially shaping the flat tip w/o a lathe

whitewolf

whitewolf

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
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.
 
What works for me is using the grinding wheel on my bench grinder--I lightly
grind a little away while turning the cue in my hands and getting the diminsional shape ready for a final cut with paper--you do this lightly--don't let the tip get hot by doing it this way--I take it we are also talking about the same thing--the top of a new tip--not the sides---:thumbup:
 
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.
Click to expand...

I bought some spare threaded pins the same thread pitch as my shaft and used the joint protectors that came with my cues to make a little jig for a variable speed drill as shown here for the various threads. Holding the drill in one hand you can do a lot to your shaft. I can quickly shape my tips or clean and polish my shafts using this setup. Also great for burnishing your tip to get it spinning quickly and easily. See those JPs are good for something:wink:

_DSC4239 [800x600].jpg
 
So strap that jig to your drill ? Can you post a video ? So your hold ing the drill with the shaft spinning with one hand and talking what ever tool to the tip or shaft with other hand ?
 
JoseV said:
So strap that jig to your drill ? Can you post a video ? So your hold ing the drill with the shaft spinning with one hand and talking what ever tool to the tip or shaft with other hand ?
Click to expand...

That's pretty much it. You can hold the drill in one hand, hold a smooth cloth with your other hand around the shaft near the tip and clamp a variety of tools in a vice and have complete control over the process. Or depending on what your doing you can hold the tool in your hand. I could make a video but I think it's pretty easy to envision what I'm talking about. I can take a new tip to a bench grinder wheel using this technique and cut down the side of an over sized tip to nearly flush in a completely controlled manor without scuffing the ferrule. I would love to have a lathe but can't justify the cost for my small fleet of cues. I can take this setup on the road and work on my shaft in my hotel room with very little space taken up.

Anything you can do to your shaft by hand can be done better if it's spinning.
 
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metmot said:
That's pretty much it. You can hold the drill in one hand, hold a smooth cloth with your other hand around the shaft near the tip and clamp a variety of tools in a vice and have complete control over the process. Or depending on what your doing you can hold the tool in your hand. I could make a video but I think it's pretty easy to envision what I'm talking about. I can take a new tip to a bench grinder wheel using this technique and cut down the side of an over sized tip to nearly flush in a completely controlled manor without scuffing the ferrule. I would love to have a lathe but can't justify the cost for my small fleet of cues. I can take this setup on the road and work on my shaft in my hotel room with very little space taken up.

Anything you can do to your shaft by hand can be done better if it's spinning.
Click to expand...

Ya once you said clamp on the other end i got that AHHH i see said the blind man
 
I suppose a grinding wheel would be better than a sanding disk but man you better have a steady hand.

Sanding disks or belts are not a good way. The abrasive (rocks) go flying off the paper and could hit the shaft and ferrule, giving them small nicks.
 
Whitewolf:

Along with metmot's ingenious little invention, you can also find cue repair arbors for sale on eBay:

http://ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=cue+arbor&_sacat=0&_odkw=(&_osacat=0&_from=R40

You can use these with a standard electric hand drill -- especially the ones with a locking trigger. Once assembled (arbor in shaft, shaft + arbor mounted in electric drill), you can put the assembly upside down on the floor (drill on the floor, shaft facing up), pull the trigger to a slow speed, lock it, and hold the drill side between your feet on the floor.

In a seated position, you can stabilize the slowly-spinning shaft with your knees. Then apply a CueShark, Willards, Its George, or any shaping tool you like, to the spinning tip.

The process actually goes quicker than you think. Yes, the procedure I describe above was what I used for many years, before a pool-playing cue repair friend made it such that on our weekly Monday night one pocket and bank pool battles, it was just easier to hand the shafts to him and let him do it, returning it to me the next Monday.

-Sean
 
Baxter said:
I cut a little bit off with a razor blade at an angle before I start sanding.
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Hey that's a good idea. I bet I can clamp a single edged blade in a vice and shave the tip edge with it while the shaft is spinning. Might work great to touch up a mushroomed tip.
 
Porper makes a nice one. Can't remember the exact name at the moment.
I'm lucky I can remember my name sometimes.

Anyway, it will shape the tip down to the ferrule nicely and the other end will give you a perfect nickel.

Actually, you can use the Porper Mushroom Grazer or Little Shaver to trim the tip to the ferrule as well.

These are by far the easiest to use.
 
You guys don't find that these methods overheat the tips at all? Will the heat delaminate the laminated tips? With a lathe you use a cutter to shape the tip. But what you're talking about is essentially using a tip tool, which is just a sand=paper method, and spinning it at X rpms. it just sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. That's a lot of friction/heat on that tip. No?

Short of an actual lathe I can't see spinning the shaft on some home-brew lathe and centering it with my knees. That's not to say it won't work. Clearly it must as you have done well with it. But I find simply using a tip tool. if we're just talking about shaping a new tip or re-shaping a used one, doesn't take that much time at all.

I have to admit, if it works as you guys say it does I'm intrigued.
 
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Soulweb said:
You guys don't find that these methods overheat the tips at all? Will the heat delaminate the laminated tips? With a lathe you use a cutter to shape the tip. But what you're talking about is essentially using a tip tool, which is just a sand=paper method, and spinning it at X rpms. it just sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. That's a lot of friction/heat on that tip. No?

Short of an actual lathe I can't see spinning the shaft on some home-brew lathe and centering it with my knees. That's not to say it won't work. Clearly it must as you have done well with it. But I find simply using a tip tool. if we're just talking about shaping a new tip or re-shaping a used one, doesn't take that much time at all.

I have to admit, if it works as you guys say it does I'm intrigued.
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Soulweb:

Actually, that is an EXCELLENT observation. When I used to do the method described in my earlier post in this thread, I'd used single-layer tips -- e.g. Elkmaster, Triangle, etc.

However, even tip tools are cutting tools -- they just use bits of steel shrapnel or grit to do so.

One thing I did to prevent the tip tool from clogging up (which would otherwise create more friction and more heat), was to periodically clean it out.

Here's how you do it:

1. Buy a couple "acid brushes" from the nearby hardware or crafts store:


2. Using a sharp pair of scissors, cut the bristles down to about 1/4-inch length (that is, the bristles are only 1/4-inch long, as they emerge from the steel tube handle). This makes the bristles much stiffer, and able to penetrate the nooks, crags, and crannies of the abrasive in the tip tool. (If you don't trim the bristles down really short, they are too soft and flexible -- like trying to clean your sink with the tip of a wet noodle.)

3. Using a stiff circular motion, use the acid brush to scrub the abrasive of the tip tool. You'll be surprised at how efficiently this modified acid brush does this. Tap and blow-out the tip tool periodically as you dislodge the caked bits of leather and chalk from it.

Voila! The tip tool is like new, and will cut much more efficiently and minimize any heat due to friction.

Hope that helps,
-Sean

P.S.: I still carry a couple trimmed-down acid brushes in the small pocket of my case, for cleaning out my CueShark. I've found no other technique to be as thorough and efficient in cleaning it.
 
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A lathe can overheat the tips also. Mike Capone showed me how he sprays the tip with water as the lathe is spinning. He said he destroyed a few layered tips before figuring this out.
 
another method you can consider is something I've used after putting tips on with my Willard's tool. Get a piece of 3/4" ID PVC (like $2 for a 2 foot section at HD) and whatever grit sandpaper you want. I use 180 to get flat cut tips down to the dime radius I prefer, and it does it in a fast but controlled manner. Cut the PVC pipe into 6" lengths, then cut them down the middle. Super glue the sandpaper into the PVC (a 1/2" drive extension bar from a socket set fits the profile well enough to adhere the sandpaper tightly) and you've got a very cheap, effective tool. The same thing with 220 grit makes a decent scuffing tool.
You will need to be semi coordinated to sand and turn the shaft at the same time, but it's not too hard. You can finish it out with a willard's tool to even it out (or knock the radius down to nickel size).
 
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.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean about hard tips. Try this, get one of those shapers that you slide a piece of sand paper into or make your own. The get a very course piece of sandpaper, I get the 60 grit with the self adhesive backing. Use this to roughly shape your tip by hand, turning it while dragging it across the tip. Then switch to a finer sandpaper like 220 grit and finish the its shape. Then moisten the sides and burnish with a piece of leather.

As you and others have mentioned before, take precautions to make sure laminated tips don't get too hot while shaping or burnishing.

Personally I don't think using a drill mounted sanding wheel is a good idea. It is always better to turn the work rather than the tool in a lathe type setup.
 
I think I found the ulitmate tool. Talked to someone at Mueller's who put tons of tips on and shaped using the Joe Porper Cue Rite Cue Tip Shaper. Mueller has a picture item 7250 and the BLADE is 7275 - will fit perfectly in a drill. He eventually stopped using the shaper and used just the blade. I plan on locking the shaft and tip up in my Willard Tip machine and then shaping it up to a nickle. The guy said the first blade lasted him a year.

Problem is that both are on back order and production may be delayed by the upcoming Valley Forge pool expo
 
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