it's your chalking technique, period, end of story.
if you chalk straight across the top like Mike Dechaine, you will flatten your tip *rapidly*. if you drill like many other players, you'll flatten it slower, but it will happen and you'll need to correct it with a tool frequently.
if you chalk the edges of your tip, as many snooker players do, you can maintain a dime radius easily without Ever using a tip tool, on any tip.
i've used several of the tips you mention, and also Moori mediums, and have kept tips at a dime radius for their entire lifetime without them ever seeing a tip tool. the bonus is the tips actually last for years, even with heavy daily use. i just replaced an Everest medium that was 4 years on and still had maybe a month left with a Precision medium (thanks for the recommendation, Chris Melling!) which is considerably harder; doesn't matter, it's easy to keep the tip where i want it. (that's playing ~3hrs per day, or 20 hrs per week)
think about it for a second: do you actually even need chalk on the apex of the tip at all? no, in fact you could wipe it completely off, and you will never miscue there. if you look at one of the tips on my cues, you'll see a semi-bald spot in the center, maybe 1/8-3/16" across. if i miscue, which is extremely rare, it's not from that; as you know, every time you miscue you see exactly where it happened, and the damage is to the edge, never anywhere else.
tip tools are unnecessary if you chalk to fit the style of tip you want.
if you chalk straight across the top like Mike Dechaine, you will flatten your tip *rapidly*. if you drill like many other players, you'll flatten it slower, but it will happen and you'll need to correct it with a tool frequently.
if you chalk the edges of your tip, as many snooker players do, you can maintain a dime radius easily without Ever using a tip tool, on any tip.
i've used several of the tips you mention, and also Moori mediums, and have kept tips at a dime radius for their entire lifetime without them ever seeing a tip tool. the bonus is the tips actually last for years, even with heavy daily use. i just replaced an Everest medium that was 4 years on and still had maybe a month left with a Precision medium (thanks for the recommendation, Chris Melling!) which is considerably harder; doesn't matter, it's easy to keep the tip where i want it. (that's playing ~3hrs per day, or 20 hrs per week)
think about it for a second: do you actually even need chalk on the apex of the tip at all? no, in fact you could wipe it completely off, and you will never miscue there. if you look at one of the tips on my cues, you'll see a semi-bald spot in the center, maybe 1/8-3/16" across. if i miscue, which is extremely rare, it's not from that; as you know, every time you miscue you see exactly where it happened, and the damage is to the edge, never anywhere else.
tip tools are unnecessary if you chalk to fit the style of tip you want.
Last edited:
