I'm just returning to pool after playing as a teen. Last summer, I bought my first serious cue. I just read the "2 shafts" thread. Several people mentioned using their second shaft as a back-up in case their tip breaks on the one they play with regularly. That makes sense to me. My question is, "Is there a danger of having the tip dry out (or some other such thing) while not being used? Do unused tips last a long time, or do they have a shelf life? If I don't use my extra shaft for a year or two, will the tip still be any good if I go to play on it?
How long does an unused tip last?
- Thread starter Magnumsk
- Start date
I have seen them get hard as a rock...and I have seen them stay relatively soft.
Age does tend to harden them.
I doubt you will have to worry after a year or two.
I don't really know about layered tips. I do have one that got rock hard in a few years. But I don't have much experience with layered tips so I don't know if that is typical.
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Age does tend to harden them.
I doubt you will have to worry after a year or two.
I don't really know about layered tips. I do have one that got rock hard in a few years. But I don't have much experience with layered tips so I don't know if that is typical.
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I have one that I am told is prob a decade old and it is hard as a mofo and has to be scuffed about every 45 min. And it is subject to miscue without warning if you stray from the middleish.
Interesting you mentioned layered tips. I have shaped layered tips and have had layers peel off while working on them making them unplayable. I do have two identical shafts for my player, coincidentally a Joss. I play Triangles now that have been pressed. No mushrooming.
You have a new break shaft.
Actually my buddy had one like that last year and he figured he would use it for breaking. It wasn't long before he broke the tip. It didn't come off...just a pie slice shaped piece of it broke off. The broken edge looked like broken glass...a clean fracture.
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I also have older cues with original tips, and mine play fine...maybe I'm just lucky!
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
I have an old shaft with tip installed sometime in the late 90's that I hadn't played with for ages.
Felt ok to play with when I tested it.
Magnumsk...The idea behind having two shafts, is that if a tip popped off while you were playing, you could just screw on your 2nd shaft. I always used to play with both shafts fairly equally, so that I'd know how each one played. You can certainly favor one shaft over the other, but I'd play with your 2nd shaft some of the time. I don't think you'll have problems with not playing with the other shaft for a year or two...I just wouldn't do it myself. Cues are meant to be played with!
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Magnumsk...The idea behind having two shafts, is that if a tip popped off while you were playing, you could just screw on your 2nd shaft. I always used to play with both shafts fairly equally, so that I'd know how each one played. You can certainly favor one shaft over the other, but I'd play with your 2nd shaft some of the time. I don't think you'll have problems with not playing with the other shaft for a year or two...I just wouldn't do it myself. Cues are meant to be played with!
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
My question comes after watching a video (granted from a billiard retailer) who said that tips often dry out. He said that tips usually are good for only 6 months. He also said that a layered tip (like a Kamui) might last 7-8 months. I thought that there must be a least some truth to his comment, so that's why I asked it the way I did. I figured that if you had a 2nd shaft that you never used, you might need to replace that tip after a few years due to drying out. After reading the comments here, I realized that he really wanted to sell and replace tips.
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Typically old or original tips installed on the cue are too hard or dried out, but the shelf like should be several years I would think...5-years maybe
I like the tips that are so old they shred apart when you try to burnish and shape them.
I've had several old cues that still have the original tips, and every once and a while they are phenomenal players.
I like the tips that are so old they shred apart when you try to burnish and shape them.
I've had several old cues that still have the original tips, and every once and a while they are phenomenal players.
I have some very old as well, over 50 years in some cases. I don't think it is consistently true that good tips will always last. They fair better than junk tips, but they are leather after all, and some will dry out and harden. I have some that are relatively fine and others that are hard as hardwood. And I don't think it necessarily relates to the original quality of the product. With each passing decade time becomes a larger factor and eventually overshadows the quality. The quality is static while time marches on. The balance will shift.
I am a leather aficionado and have some vintage leather jackets, boots, and belts. If not cared for well they will harden, dry out, and eventually essentially rot. Which reminds me...I have a 1950's biker jacket I need to get back to working on. A gift from a friend...a real treasure.
As an example, a cue I left in a case (Fellini type) for years, probably about ten years, had some very light fungus on the linen wrap and tips when I finally took it out. Thankfully it was extremely light and caused no appreciable damage, but that fungus was eating the organic material. The leather and linen are food for microbes.
Well tanned leather is preserved to a certain extent but it is still organic material that can and will degrade over time. Even if sealed up and in environmentally controlled circumstances. This is one of the reasons that intact leather artifacts in archaeology are so rare.
A year or two? No big deal.
50..100...more?
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Just keep your shafts in a humidor and your tips will be fine
Great info, I saw the same video and was going to ask the same question. :thumbup:
All leather dries out over time. Pool tips, car seats, sofa's in your home ect.
We can apply different kinds of leather conditioners to the seats, sofa's, horse saddles and what not - to add moisture and keep the leather soft - but not to a pool cue tip.
So yes, leather pool tips will dry out over time.
Layered leather tips will dry out faster because of the lesser density of the layers they are composed of compared to a solid tip.
Good luck and shoot straight.
We can apply different kinds of leather conditioners to the seats, sofa's, horse saddles and what not - to add moisture and keep the leather soft - but not to a pool cue tip.
So yes, leather pool tips will dry out over time.
Layered leather tips will dry out faster because of the lesser density of the layers they are composed of compared to a solid tip.
Good luck and shoot straight.
Just recently started playing again after a 5-6 year hiatus, I have a Sniper on my shaft that's been there even longer, thing shoots like a beast, no scuffing or shaping required, may have gotten a little harder which suits me fine since I also break with it.
From personal experience, I have had a cue sit in my trunk for close to two years, was able to take it out and the tip felt fine.