How to retip cues...... without a lathe

67GT500

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Great post! Thanks for taking the time to explain in detail. Is the same procedure used for a Predator shaft with the thin pad? I have a couple 314-3 shafts that I'd like to experiment with some different tips
 

RiverCity

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Great tutorial, though a shame how Photobucket is these days :(

p71hi1

I still have the originals, Ill update it later this evening without photobucket.
 

RiverCity

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Great post! Thanks for taking the time to explain in detail. Is the same procedure used for a Predator shaft with the thin pad? I have a couple 314-3 shafts that I'd like to experiment with some different tips

Yes, you just need to be careful of the pad/plate. Predator is big about voiding warranties if things go below certain measurements.
 

Snooker Theory

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Pics reloaded on a different platform. :thumbup:

Good looking out, even with the blurry pics it was really a stellar tutorial, but seeing the pics now too. You really hit a home run on this thread.
Thanks for the update on the pics.l!
 

Poolhall60561

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Thanks Chuck. I’m interested in the big shaver details.
I did my own tips in the 80’s but the pros have all the good tools
I would like to be able to change tips more frequently to find the perfect one and not worry about the $25 change fee
 

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
I come from an era where we had to be able to put a tip on ourselves. I watched Greg Stevens put one on in the back of his big Caddy. He was talking to me the whole time and working while he talked. I was amazed at how precise he was with his hand tools. It left an impression on me.

The biggest problem for me if I was on the road somewhere was where to find a good tip. Good pool tips (Champions!) were coveted by players back then and we would be glad when we found someone who had one or two for sale. I posted on here (#55) years back about how I used to replace a bad tip. I would go to a hardware store to get several levels of sandpaper and some good razor blades. I always had a good sharp knife, my four way file, a hard plastic tip shaper and some Tweeten's glue. With those tools I was good to go.

I could do the whole job in less than an hour and just leave it in the corner of my room overnight, and shape the tip and clean the ferrule the next day. I was right back in action without a day off. :grin:
 

Banger

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I come from an era where we had to be able to put a tip on ourselves. I watched Greg Stevens put one on in the back of his big Caddy. He was talking to me the whole time and working while he talked. I was amazed at how precise he was with his hand tools. It left an impression on me.
About 40 years ago, Jack White was putting on his trick shot show at my college. The student he was playing was using a house cue, and the tip was in pretty bad shape. Jack said here, let me fix that tip for you. He pulled out a small pen knife, turned the cue upside down on the rail of the table, and shaved down the mushroomed edges of the tip. He then shaped it up a little, and burnished the edges to nice shine. I don't think it took him more than a minute or two. I can just imagine how many tips he installed by hand, over the years.
 

RiverCity

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
One of my mentors, Al Bryan used to tell me about the house man, 'George' at Smiths in Springfield MA when he was coming up in the 60s.

George used a butcher knife he kept under the counter to trim the sides of a tip. He also used it to chase off troublemakers if memory serves. :thumbup:
 

Cadillac J

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I come from an era where we had to be able to put a tip on ourselves. I watched Greg Stevens put one on in the back of his big Caddy.

If my newer V had a big ole' rear end so I could re-tip cues on its wide caboose.

Seriously though people...once you buy the right things that you'll need and start practicing, you'll eventually start getting results until they are just as good as with a lathe.
 

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
About 40 years ago, Jack White was putting on his trick shot show at my college. The student he was playing was using a house cue, and the tip was in pretty bad shape. Jack said here, let me fix that tip for you. He pulled out a small pen knife, turned the cue upside down on the rail of the table, and shaved down the mushroomed edges of the tip. He then shaped it up a little, and burnished the edges to nice shine. I don't think it took him more than a minute or two. I can just imagine how many tips he installed by hand, over the years.

I've trimmed down and cleaned up many a tip for well known pros who had no idea how to shape a tip. Usually would take me 5-10 minutes in my garage workshop and they would be amazed when I brought their cue back to them.
 
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