Alternative to the Willard Tipping Machine

ShootingArts said:
I saw one many years ago. It was a very well made tool that a pool room owner used to put tips on. He had put countless tips on and it was still as perfect as new. One of those things I would kinda like to own just because. A man died and his widow offered a four foot rose lathe for $15,000 Gorgeous machine custom made out of all brass and stainless. A steal and I was sorely tempted but I would have had to put it in my living room, too nice to go in my shop.

A man custom built two tiny jewelry lathes. He kept one for himself, sold the other for $250,000. If the Williard machine is still what it once was it is a bargain probably why they are hard to get. On the other hand, there are cheaper options.




Got to be careful to get the bevel on the right side. I think the left hand knife is what a right hander wants and vice versa. The bevel is on the opposite side of what it seems it should be on.

Hu
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Actually, mine is right handed. I normally stand to the right, hold it with my left hand, and guide it with my right hand. If I need to stand to the left, I switch to the right hand. That is the most comfortable for me working around the chuck.
 
ebby69k said:
Where do you get these $7 Japanese Single edge blades. I can't seem to find anything that cheap.
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Here is the one I bought, I bought it twice (for 2 locations), and had a couple friends buy it. It's super high quality. I paid $7.80 for it. It comes in a right and left bevel version.

Unfortunately, it now says not available.
Link:
Screenshot:
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iusedtoberich said:
Here is the one I bought, I bought it twice (for 2 locations), and had a couple friends buy it. It's super high quality. I paid $7.80 for it. It comes in a right and left bevel version.

Unfortunately, it now says not available.
Link:
Screenshot:
View attachment 825212
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Here is a link to the cheaper one

This one costs a little more, but for me it's more comfortable to use. It also comes in different styles.
 
bobbydee said:
Besides going to a lathe. Not quite there yet. They've been out of stock forever and won't reply when I ask if they have an ETA of back in stock. Wondering if theres a close alternative. TIA
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Right now, Mueller's page shows "In-Stock", but you can't trust everything you see on the internet....
 
Don’t see how this “machine” is worth $450
You can do just as good of a job if not better, without it. Just with simple tools.
And the trimmer on that tool just looks dangerous to the ferrule…

I use a utility knife ($9) to cut off the old tip.
Then The Tweeten Rapid Cue Tip Sander ($32) to shave the tip leftover off and make it even.
After gluing the tip, I trim it using a utility knife.
When done, I use sandpaper ($20 for a lifetime) to smooth the sides of the tip.
I use the Tweeten metal shaper ($9) to get to a dome shape, then a the Tiger leather burnisher ($9) to burnish it and then final shaping.

Two tools that I’ve added recently are:
1. The Longoni mushroom cutter ($20) that is more designed to maintain the tip, but I use it before sanding the sides of the tip jist to finalize my cutting and make ot nice and round.
2. The Last Forever Dime tool ($27). Again mainly for daily maintenance but I now use it as the final shaping tool instead of the Willard that I was using before, it just works faster and nicer.

So a total of: $126 worth of tools.
And I’m sure that I could have gone a cheaper route…
 
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I've wanted a williard since the pool hall i worked at closed and wasn't able to purchase that one. I've gotten great results with a Kiridashi knife. Probably better then the williard.
 
The Willard is worth the $ (IMHO). A perfect example of the old ‘right tool for the job’ adage. A justified lifetime expense, if you plan to play a lot in future. Results always perfect (I’ve never had a tip come off), and oversized tips always turn out beautifully fitted.
 
SSDiver2112 said:
Here is a link to the cheaper one

This one costs a little more, but for me it's more comfortable to use. It also comes in different styles.
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Oh wow, I like that second one. The blade looks a lot thicker too.

Today I was using a japanese chisel I bought about 30 years ago to cut a mortise into a door jam. I've kept it razor sharp all these years. I was thinking of the "Hattori Hanzo Steel" scene from Kill Bill while using it. ha ha.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Oh wow, I like that second one. The blade looks a lot thicker too.

Today I was using a japanese chisel I bought about 30 years ago to cut a mortise into a door jam. I've kept it razor sharp all these years. I was thinking of the "Hattori Hanzo Steel" scene from Kill Bill while using it. ha ha.
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I use whatever I have handy that is super sharp. I had a draw knife. When I had to do a little shaping on the end of a pine 2x4 it cut like butter both directions with no tendency to climb or dig in. When I needed to put a tip on I grabbed the draw knife. It did a beautiful job, perfecto mundo!

I had a few pocket knives that I had to warn people not to test the edge on a finger or thumb. They were amazed that the knives drew blood before they felt the blade or the skin started to visibly indent. Most people weren't satisfied until they drew a little blood though. Another tool that worked just fine to install tips. I have some powder steel wood lathe chisels. Those things are sharp!! I think I should install a tip with one just for grins. I could do it by hand and certainly wouldn't hesitate to do a tip on my big wood lathe. I make the occasional ink pen on it. I knew a lady that turned out a bunch of desserts for a banquet on a similar lathe! You can usually go down with a big lathe, can't turn a two hundred pound stump on my cue lathe!(grin)

Hu
 
I had to put on a tip in an emergency. No one to do it for me so I watched a video by Mr. Everything about pool Dr. Dave and got some basic tools delivered off amazon and it’s really not that hard. If I did it for a living I’d want a lathe but if you’re doing your own tip occasionally hand tools work just fine.
 
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