no big deal
I do have lathes and toys, not handy or not set up. I had two laminated tips delaminate within a three week period which left me in need of a couple tip installs in the middle of this Covid 19 mess.
Tools and supplies:
Elkmaster tips, these were weighed and selected but not dudded.
Masking tape
A medium thick CA glue(superglue)
Thin CA glue(I have many choices left over from earlier experimentation)
Draw knife (the first thing I saw wicked sharp)
Sandpaper (whatever is handy)
First thing, remove what is left of the old tip. I did this in several thin slices. Nice thing about the draw knife, the blade is flat on one side, beveled on the other.
Rough up the mating surfaces of the tip and the ferrule or pad if you don't use a ferrule.
Now I started wrapping the masking tape around the ferrule. The tip is bigger diameter than the ferrule and I want something to center it. First wraps are very tight, I don't want glue getting on my ferrule or shaft. After I build out to the same diameter as the tip I shave the tape so it is exactly the same level as the top of the ferrule or pad. Then I wrapped a couple layers of tape slightly higher than my build up to the proper diameter. These layers sticking up are to guide my tip install. I test fit dry before gluing. All good.
One tip I put a few drops of the thin CA glue on the tip and ferrule to be sure I had penetration particularly into the leather tip. The other tip I forgot to. I have been breaking and playing with both tips for over a month and they have held uo great, no problems and they are holding their shape well.
I stood the shafts up on a flat surface to put light pressure on the tips to hold them in place until the glue dried. Then I took the tape off and shaved down the outside of the tip to match the ferrule. Since the tips were well centered I accepted the factory crown with no shaping on my part.
The draw knife was not a must so I will take a little time to talk about razor blades and utility knife blades. Stay away from heavy duty blades they are the dullest of all. The bulk packaged blades meant for commercial or industrial use are lower quality than the small packages on store shelves for home use also.
I tested all of the utility knife blades I could find a few years back for a magazine article that died with the magazine. I found that all the bi-metal, cobalt or kobalt coated, and titanium coated blades were well worth the extra cost. They were sharper to begin with and lasted longer before getting dull. Worth every penny and it didn't seem to matter which premium blade I tested, all were superior to the standard and heavy duty blades.
The next thing is holding the utility knife blade. I hate the retractable blade handles. The blade moves around and can easily ruin a tip or ferrule. I buy the rigid mount handles, which cost more than the retractable ones! They may still allow a little movement. A cheap blade snapped off flush with the handle makes an excellent shim. Please wear eye protection when snapping blades, digging steel out of your eye sucks. I had to have that done before I was more than barely walking.
My way may seem like a little overkill in some steps but I haven't ruined a tip doing it like this and it took longer to type out what I did than to do it. Probably fifteen to twenty minutes per tip compared to more like ten doing it on the lathe. Results aren't enough different to notice. I go through basically the same things on the lathe.
Everyone's mileage may vary of course. Those that can't resist just grabbing a loose utility blade or razor blade may find they donate a little blood to the project too. That is OK, a little blood in a project makes it personal!
Hu
