Tips holding their shape

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Would like opinions re. which brand of tip, in medium or soft, will hold it's shape (dime shape) the longest without having to be re-shaped.....thanks.
 
Triangle tips hold their shape for a very very long time without the need for any tip tool application. Not sure if it is too hard a tip for you, but I have found them to be the most maintenance free tips. Every soft tip will mushroom over time- at least from my personal experience over many years; and many advertised medium tips end up playing over time about the same as a Triangle in hardness. This is just based on my own observations.
 
I've been a fan of the Le Pro tips for a long time now however I've tried milk duds and like them as well and the latest tip is a techno dud on the suggestion of a friend .
I agree with the above mentioned post it depends on your personal playing style .
 
Kamui Black soft and Kamui original soft (brown) both hold shape very well but true hardness is closer to a medium. If I recall the original soft (brown) is slightly softer then the black.
 
Instead of milk or techno duds, I use Elkmasters right out the box. I have soaked them in alcohol to leach out some of the chalk but mostly what I do is super glue all the exposed surfaces. With gel grade glue you can wipe off the excess with a paper towel; multiple folds of course. Stiffens the sides and makes them easy to shape. They still play like rubber.
 
I always used Predator Victory medium tips. I have no mushrooming problem with my 314-3 and Z-3 shafts, but significant mushrooming with my Revo shaft. Any reason why?
 
Doubt any soft tip will last very long before needing the mushroom cut off a time or 2

I use sibs and or ultraskins soft and they will mushroom eventually but once I cut them once there good for a long time, cut them a second time and it lasts forever after.
 
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CocoboloCowboy said:
Depends on your playing style, as you might shape in Dime. But could change because of how you hit C/B.

Tiger Emerald is a good choice.
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If you have tried a Predator soft tip, would you say the Tiger Emerald is about the same hardness or harder/softer?
Or if you wana compare it to a Kamui soft/medium black
 
I think the shape retention has a lot to do with how you initially shape your new tip.
Not only am I referring to the contour but the amount of leather you initially remove.

Some folks prefer their cue tip is a certain height, or appearance, because it is too
tall after being installed. So they scrape & burnish the leather until it looks just right.

It would stand to reason the taller the amount of leather, the more inclined it might be
to compress & bulge its columnar appearance. Obviously, type & hardness are factors.
 
RickLafayette said:
A soft tip remains soft only for a certain number of games/hits. It eventually becomes a medium and, if used long enough, a hard tip. This is the nature of leather.
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What you say sounds reasonable but I have Kamui Black Clear Soft & even a couple of SuperSoft tips on
almost all my cues. These tips have been on the cues for well over 5 years. Now I’ve got so many cues
that the amount of play gets distributed among the 6 cues I carry but both my Owen cues see lots of play.

The tips still play like soft and how do I know this? Because when I lightly scuff the tip, the leather reacts
the same as when the tip was brand new. The leather is removed easily & fluffy if I scraped hard which I don’t.

I understand your logic but my experience with Kamui Black Clear soft tips contradicts what you posted. So
let’s see how others respond. Surely there are some Azers highly knowledgeable in leather and types of tips.
 
Bavafongoul said:
What you say sounds reasonable but I have Kamui Black Clear Soft & even a couple of SuperSoft tips on
almost all my cues. These tips have been on the cues for well over 5 years. Now I’ve got so many cues
that the amount of play gets distributed among the 6 cues I carry but both my Owen cues see lots of play.

The tips still play like soft and how do I know this? Because when I lightly scuff the tip, the leather reacts
the same as when the tip was brand new. The leather is removed easily & fluffy if I scraped hard which I don’t.

I understand your logic but my experience with Kamui Black Clear soft tips contradicts what you posted. So
let’s see how others respond. Surely there are some Azers highly knowledgeable in leather and types of tips.
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Kamui Black Soft tips definitely get harder the more they are played. For me when there are 2 layers left they get so hard they don't accept chalk well and start miscuing very often. I will start miscuing and blame the tip and someone always says its not the tip but low and behold I get the tip replaced and the miscuing is gone until the tip gets that low again.
 
I believe how one chalks their tip affects how long a dime or nickel type contour will last. Since chalk is abrasive - those that use a drilling technique will tend to flatten the tip( if your wear a deep hole in the chalk cube and/or get a lot of chalk stain on the ferrule - you might want to improve your chalking method), whereas those that use a proper type of brushing up on the tip edges will tend to help maintain the original shape. I like both medium G2 and medium Predator Victory tips, and can play for months before needing to slightly reshape.
 
fiftyyardline said:
I believe how one chalks their tip affects how long a dime or nickel type contour will last. Since chalk is abrasive - those that use a drilling technique will tend to flatten the tip( if your wear a deep hole in the chalk cube and/or get a lot of chalk stain on the ferrule - you might want to improve your chalking method), whereas those that use a proper type of brushing up on the tip edges will tend to help maintain the original shape. I like both medium G2 and medium Predator Victory tips, and can play for months before needing to slightly reshape.
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I can’t imagine that the amount of pressure applied to chalking your cue’s tip, regardless of whether you power cored
the chalk drilling a hole in it, could ever approach the amount of pressure needed that “could” ever flatten a leather tip.

This sounds absurd and even when you hear players squeak the chalk, it isn’t going to flatten their cue’s tip doing it.

Over chalking creates a mess & could lead to uneven cue tip contact with the cue ball because of caking but flatten the
tip, that sounds like some fairy tale some old timer told a newbie years back the first time they ever visited a pool parlor.
 
Bavafongoul said:
I can’t imagine that the amount of pressure applied to chalking your cue’s tip, regardless of whether you power cored
the chalk drilling a hole in it, could ever approach the amount of pressure needed that “could” ever flatten a leather tip.

This sounds absurd and even when you hear players squeak the chalk, it isn’t going to flatten their cue’s tip doing it.

Over chalking creates a mess & could lead to uneven cue tip contact with the cue ball because of caking but flatten the
tip, that sounds like some fairy tale some old timer told a newbie years back the first time they ever visited a pool parlor.
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Well - yes - it won’t result in a flat tip, but if you chalk like most do before every shot in a drilling fashion, the abrasive quality of the chalk will eventually slightly wear on the leather and flatten the contour. Your dime shape will flatten to a nickel a lot faster than if chalking properly.
 
fiftyyardline said:
Well - yes - it won’t result in a flat tip, but if you chalk like most do before every shot in a drilling fashion, the abrasive quality of the chalk will eventually slightly wear on the leather and flatten the contour. Your dime shape will flatten to a nickel a lot faster than if chalking properly.
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So basically if you chalk correctly, as Dr. Dave has so aptly explained, there is no effect on your tip’s contour.
I’ve been chalking properly for the past 60 years. I can state unequivocally that my tip’s shape was unaffected.
IMO, I’d even go further that that. I don’t think chalking, versus stroking the cue ball, changes your cue tip at all.
 
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