How long should my tips last?

[eastcoast_chris]

I currently play Tiger Sniper tips. I get about 4 months out of a tip playing 6hrs./wk.

I also play Tiger Sniper ... mine last forever(year+) playing maybe 10hrs/wk or sometimes more.
I almost never shape/scuff the tip. Just doesn't seem to need it.
I chalk (just Masters) nearly every shot and I'll miscue about once ever 3-6 months.

I think some people mess with their tips way too much because they think it will make them play a bit better/blame it for misses/miscues.

I probably should change them more often? ... but it doesn't seem to hurt me.

 

[garczar]

Back in the days before all the specialty cues and we used just one cue for everything i'd usually get about 4mos on a good LePro. That's playing, breaking, jumping with one tip. Current tip is a Ultraskin black med. and it will last me at least 2yrs based on amt. of play(no breaking) it currently gets. Agree 100% on the shaping/sanding being root cause of quick wear. I hit mine with a cheap gator knock-off scuffer every now-n-then. Scuffer i have: https://www.ebay.com/itm/2557336405...d=link&campid=5335988529&toolid=20001&mkevt=1 works perfect. does same job as a $40Kamui

 

[The_JV]

Agree 100% on the shaping/sanding being root cause of quick wear. I hit mine with a cheap gator knock-off scuffer every now-n-then.

I opt to use a pick rather than a scuffer. Might use it maybe once a month, if that much. For those not in the know. It does not remove material, but rather punch small holes into the tip while producing crater like ridges.

 

[Mase]

Tips don't wear down from chalking or playing pool with them.
Chalking just covers them with chalk.
Playing may compress them but not wear them down.
They get worn down from constant shaping.
If you are continually shaping them with an abrasive they will wear down.
Period.

I respectfully disagree. The main reason that tip wear down is from chalking. Chalk is an abrasive. It is like rubbing sandpaper over your tip every time you chalk.

 

[ShootingArts]

Ah, a healthy dose of reality. Much appreciated...

Speaking as an excessive chalker. I have had tips last for many many years. One M/H Morri, which eventually compressed to Hard, lasted near 10yrs, (top layer finally popped off). My explanation...?..., I don't use shaping tools or sand paper. ...ever. Either that or there's some alternate dimension centered on the ferrule on my Z2 shaft that prevents the application of chalk from wearing down my tips.

Talking about Master chalk here and to some extent Silvercup and some other chalks that saw occasional use, it does have abrasive added I believe. The same basic chalk was used on our hands and our cue tips for opposite results. When the abrasive in the chalk doesn't damage the cue ball to a noticeable degree except over years and then we get a universal shrinkage that may be more due to dent and rebound popping tiny flecks off of the cue ball, it would seem that the embedding and some sliding must occur between the tip and the abrasive in the chalk. Some claim that chalking even shapes the cue tip.

This all seems reasonable and intuitive to me other than chalking cutting fast enough to keep the tip shaped. The issue for me is that I too have used a single tip on a shaft for years. Intuition and logic don't seem to match what use proves.

I don't have answers. I am confident my small stock of sorted Elkmaster tips are going to last beyond my lifetime. Wear is negligible when a good tip is on a stick and we don't jack with it all of the time. I have long ago given up on answering why chalk doesn't damage it more. Why doesn't really matter anyway, what is important is what happens, and what doesn't happen.

Hu

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

I have used different TIGER layered tips for years, only scuffing I do is wot 220 or 300 grit sandpaper.

Bailey scuff, just enough to create some round surface to hold Chalk.

Love petiole who miscue, and their tip is like polished surface that will not hold Chalk.

 

[The_JV]

damn it... Google has finally failed me.

I was trying to find a gif that had a dude wearing a tin foil hat, standing on a flat earth, while chalking a pool cue. No luck...

 

[Cue Alchemist]

I opt to use a pick rather than a scuffer. Might use it maybe once a month, if that much. For those not in the know. It does not remove material, but rather punch small holes into the tip while producing crater like ridges.
View attachment 663660

I remember back in the early 2000s, reyes liked to use this tool.

 

[Coos Cues]

I was recently turned on to water buffalo tips and they have a lot going for them. They really open up when scuffed to hold chalk all the while remaining firm below. And you can buy a 50 box for the cost of two designer layered tips, name your favorite. I have yet to see a cue tip worth 25 bucks but they sell the hell out of them.

 

[JolietJames]

I think some people mess with their tips way too much because they think it will make them play a bit better/blame it for misses/miscues.

I probably should change them more often? ... but it doesn't seem to hurt me.

For me, the snipers tend to flatten and mushroom a few times after install. Within a month I have shaped perhaps 1/3 of the tip off the end. Two or three months of good play and it's ready for change. I should mention 90% of the play my tip gets is solo practice so there is no sitting around waiting for my shot.
I don't shape my tip to play better. I shape it when it loses its shape.

 

[tomatoshooter]

I should mention 90% of the play my tip gets is solo practice so there is no sitting around waiting for my shot.

Yeah, you are going to take 3-4 times as many shots practicing alone as you will playing a game.

 

[MattPoland]

I usually leave my tip alone from day to day and week to week. I’ll have a cue mechanic reshape it on a lathe with a razor once every 4-6 months. I’ll take a tip tool to it maybe once a year. I’m usually due for a new tip every 2-3 years. It’s been better when I went to layered tips.

When I had a LePro, I was shaping and scuffing almost every night of play and eating through it like I was mad at it. Part of that was the softness of the tip. Part of that was my own faulty mentality not realizing my miscues were just poor chalking habits and a bad stroke.

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

A Tip should last forever if it a Tip on Safe Queen Cue.

 

[Zerksies]

I was using LePros for many years. When you found a good one it sure was a pleasure. But I found a lot of trash LePros. I probably took off more tips then I kept. I don’t know how many times I’ve put on a tip. Hit two balls and rip the tip off because it was trash. One consistent thing with LePros are the tips are inconsistent.

I went to a Moori 3 in 04. Was a great tip and was consistent from tip to tip. They stopped making the 3’s years ago. And the 4’s are not the same.

I went looking for a new tip. I checked out Amazon and saw a ton of positive reviews on Kamui Tips. I checked a few Pool sites and they got good reviews their too. The tips are pretty consistent from tip to tip which is a great thing. I know they get a lot of hate over glazing, but I don’t run into that issue.

I shape my tip quite often. I‘m using the Last4ever tip tool. This is a great tool. I’m using a nickel radius and check the shape often. What’s great about this tool is I can take off the bare minimum. Make sure you have some leftover chalk on the tip. Run the tip, turn, run the tip till their is no chalk left

 

[pw98]

A lot of the wear depends upon how you chalk your tips. At one point I was grinding the chalk on (resulting in holes in the cubes) and my kamui black softs were down to two layers in 2 weeks (Master chalk applied before almost every shot). Then at one point for whatever reason I changed how I was chalking to relatively lightly brushing it on (resulting in flat wear on the cubes) and the tip life more than doubled up to 5-6 weeks just from that. This was with heavy daily play.

So I recommend you look into what motion you use to chalk and how hard you press when applying it.

EDIT: I was doing zero shapeing/scuffing after the initial install. They were probably 5.5 layers thick after the install as well.

 

[pw98]

I opt to use a pick rather than a scuffer. Might use it maybe once a month, if that much. For those not in the know. It does not remove material, but rather punch small holes into the tip while producing crater like ridges.
View attachment 663660

Although sometimes required and less damaging than a scuffer even a tip pick accelerates the wear of tips. This is the main reason I don't pick my tip that often and basically never scuff it.

 

[philly]

A lot of the wear depends upon how you chalk your tips. At one point I was grinding the chalk on (resulting in holes in the cubes) and my kamui black softs were down to two layers in 2 weeks (Master chalk applied before almost every shot). Then at one point for whatever reason I changed how I was chalking to relatively lightly brushing it on (resulting in flat wear on the cubes) and the tip life more than doubled up to 5-6 weeks just from that. This was with heavy daily play.

So I recommend you look into what motion you use to chalk and how hard you press when applying it.

EDIT: I was doing zero shapeing/scuffing after the initial install. They were probably 5.5 layers thick after the install as well.

Chalking has no consequential relationship to tip wear.
I you do not believe that, then sit in a chair and really try to wear a tip down by chalking.
You will be sitting there for a millennia.
I mean seriously, think about it.

 

[The_JV]

Although sometimes required and less damaging than a scuffer even a tip pick accelerates the wear of tips. This is the main reason I don't pick my tip that often and basically never scuff it.

Oh I don't doubt that. Although I haven't done any level of testing and or seen any data to back it up. I know some opted to roll a pick over the surface of their tips, which tends to tear the leather. I prefer the light stab method. Does what I need to the surface and minimalizes damage

All I know is that I do use a pick, and use it very very infrequently, and have had tips last quite a few years.

 

[softshot]

I had a pressed triangle put on my previous player the day I bought it....

nothing touched the tip but chalk, cueballs, and the top of my case...

I just retired that cue with 10 years of service 3 nights of league per week and half a dozen tournaments per year..

Still has 3/16" of sidewall left.. from the original tip...

Tip "shapers" are a gimmick

Learn to chalk properly and you'll never need one..

 

[tomatoshooter]

Chalking has no consequential relationship to tip wear.
I you do not believe that, then sit in a chair and really try to wear a tip down by chalking.
You will be sitting there for a millennia.
I mean seriously, think about it.

Then where is my tip going if I'm not shaping or scuffing it? Is the cue ball wearing it out?