Why do triangle tips have this brown paint/pigment/substance on the sides that rub off?

[dlao02]

Why do triangle tips have this brown paint/pigment/substance on the sides that rub off? Does it do anything special? Or is it purely a way to distinguish triangle tips from other tips

 

[Black-Balled]

Maybe some sort of lubricating agent to assist in a clean cut during manufacturing?

Maybe a treatment to keep edges neat until install?

Maybe poop.

 

[cueman]

That process goes back in history to a time when there were no cue lathes and all tip work was done by hand. Tips were not installed and then cut to shaft size, but you simply matched the tip size to the ferrule and glued it on. All shafts were made in half mm increments so you could match tips to them. The coating was on there to give the side of the tip a nice finished appearance.

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

That process goes back in history to a time when there were no cue lathes and all tip work was done by hand. Tips were not installed and then cut to shaft size, but you simply matched the tip size to the ferrule and glued it on. All shafts were made in half mm increments so you could match tips to them. The coating was on there to give the side of the tip a nice finished appearance.

History lesson.