TRIANGLE TIPS - how to choose a good one

randallt6

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've heard triangle tips are a little more inconsistant these days, anyone know how to choose a good triangle tip? I've also heard the 15mm ones are more consistant. I wanna try out a triangle but I surely don't wanna end up with a bad one.

Thanks for your insight,
Randall


and is there any special process for installing them?
 
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J Soto

The NON-Myth
Silver Member
I've never played with a triangle tip but a good friend of mine has. The way he chooses triangle tips are as follows: he buys a box of triangle tips, he then checks all the tips with a durometer, he keeps the tips that are a certain hardness rating (not sure which one, but I'm assuming each person has their preference on hardness rating), he only keeps the ones that fall into a certain rating.

He did the procedure in front of me one day. In a box of 50 he found only 8 tips that he said were any good.
 

63Kcode

AKA Larry Vigus
Silver Member
I've not had a bad Triangle yet. Lepos are the ones I have had problems with. Sady I haven't found a way to tell the good from the bad. Till I go to shape them. Then I cut them off and start all over again.

Larry
 

luke

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I buy the 15mm Triangles from Atlas. After soaking and pressing they are very consistant.
 

3andstop

Focus
Silver Member
You're not going to have problems with Triangle tips in general. Just look at the side of them and make sure the leather is tight all around. Once in a while you may find one that has spread a bit, not unlike lots of other tips.

I wouldn't labor over this.
 

randallt6

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
You're not going to have problems with Triangle tips in general. Just look at the side of them and make sure the leather is tight all around. Once in a while you may find one that has spread a bit, not unlike lots of other tips.

I wouldn't labor over this.

i hope not lol. i might just buy a whole box so i can inspect them myself.
 

conetip

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've not had a bad Triangle yet. Lepos are the ones I have had problems with. Sady I haven't found a way to tell the good from the bad. Till I go to shape them. Then I cut them off and start all over again.

Larry

The time lost on a bad tip is never recovered. So I don't install the cheap tips with a high probability of failing.
 

DallasHopps

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
If you buy oversized tips and install yourself, cut a little off the height. I had some issues that were fixed once somebody clued me in. FWIW I got a box of 50 for less than the cost of having one put on by a repair guy. If you want to experiment, the price is certainly right for it!
 

randallt6

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
If you buy oversized tips and install yourself, cut a little off the height. I had some issues that were fixed once somebody clued me in. FWIW I got a box of 50 for less than the cost of having one put on by a repair guy. If you want to experiment, the price is certainly right for it!

i was thinking about installing them myself, obv practising with an older cue first....it really doesnt seem that difficult to install a tip, as long as u have the right tools (porper shaper, cutter etc)
 

DallasHopps

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It's not hard at all... just tedious. Be careful if you have anything handheld that claims to trim the tip flush with the ferrule, as they like to bite into the leather of the tip and "climb" their way to the ferrule. Practicing on a junk shaft is a good idea for sure.

I think you'd get some good answers in the ask a cuemaker forum also, concerning how to choose a good tip out of the batch. I recall somebody (JoeyinCali maybe) saying they put them in a glass of water and keep the ones that sink. Lots of smart people here!
 

ShootingArts

Smorg is giving St Peter the 7!
Gold Member
Silver Member
tried that too

It's not hard at all... just tedious. Be careful if you have anything handheld that claims to trim the tip flush with the ferrule, as they like to bite into the leather of the tip and "climb" their way to the ferrule. Practicing on a junk shaft is a good idea for sure.

I think you'd get some good answers in the ask a cuemaker forum also, concerning how to choose a good tip out of the batch. I recall somebody (JoeyinCali maybe) saying they put them in a glass of water and keep the ones that sink. Lots of smart people here!


I tried the float test too, couldn't remember if the seeds, um tips, that floated or sunk were the good ones. A density meter is the first choice, I found one new for around fifty dollars that measured in the range we need to measure tips. Got sidetracked and didn't buy it though and that was a couple years or so ago. Since we are only interested in relative values anyone fairly handy could easily cobble up an analog density meter in an hour or so.

Cheap scales and calipers are available these days and have other uses too. I measure all of the tips with my calipers and then weigh the tips. I was working with elkmasters but it would be the same with any single layer tip. Out of fifty I found eight or ten light ones if I remember correctly, most in a pretty tight range, and two or three very heavy ones. I tossed the light ones, use the ones that clustered close around the same weight, and kept the very heavy ones to test someday on my own shaft.

Hu
 

SCCues

< Searing Twins
Silver Member
I started out playing with Triangle tips and after hearing so much about layered tips I switched from Triangle tips to the layered style tips. I've tried a bunch of different layered tips and after spending a lot of money on layered tips i'm back using and really liking a Triangle tip again. I think they are hard to beat for the price!

James
 

The Renfro

Outsville.com
Silver Member
The days of just grabbing one out of the box are over..... Best bet is stick em in a vice... if leather mushrooms evenly it's a good one... if it starts to look like its mushrooming non-consistently then it's likely bad... doesn't take a lot of pressure and you get rid of the dreaded first mushroom in your good tip
 

Varney Cues

Handcrafted quality!
Silver Member
Here is the deal with Triangles....
To start, look at the back. The ones with the smoothest back most often are the more desired dense ones. The ones with deeper grain lines in the coating on the back tend to be the poor ones that fuzz up when you shape them. Now here is what for me is the serious test I use. Fill the sink full of water...throw a handfull in. The ones that sink are dense and winners. The floaters get tossed straight into the trash. As for help with the install...make sure you use a new and ultra sharp blade...and also wad up a paper towel and wet it. Keep dabbing the wet towel on the sides when you trim it & also wet the crown often as you cut the radius. The moisture allows the leather to cut a little easier which also eliminates the stress on the leather that can often cause one to explode and fuzz up. Same technique as Tiger directs you to use on the Sniper installs. Works like charm. I never get a bad Triangle now....and all the ones I install seem very consistant as well. Before taking these steps it was hit or miss trying to get a good one like everyone else. And 14mm are what I prefer. If you want to firm them up some so they never mushroom...you can also soak them in mineral spirits for a couple days then lightly press them until dry. Lightly pressed they play just a shade stiffer than normal....or you can press them down to near phenolic quality. A little trial & error & find what you like best.:)
 

Vahmurka

...and I get all da rolls
Silver Member
about the back side - what Kevin just said. Take a look at the photos I made some time ago when seeking for good Triangles: forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=208093. You want to avoid those on the right.
As for water test, I once tried this. Maybe I got lucky with that purchase but I didn't find any single "floater" there. I had to pick them all out and dry with paper towel (didn't want them to soak). So, after I did that with a fourth box I decided to stop ;)

Biting the tips like Cornerman advised is also a good test (unless you care about your teeth too much). If not biting them, you could tell which are better by simply dropping them on hard table surface. Those which give crisp sound, as opposed to dull, are good.
 

randallt6

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Here is the deal with Triangles....
To start, look at the back. The ones with the smoothest back most often are the more desired dense ones. The ones with deeper grain lines in the coating on the back tend to be the poor ones that fuzz up when you shape them. Now here is what for me is the serious test I use. Fill the sink full of water...throw a handfull in. The ones that sink are dense and winners. The floaters get tossed straight into the trash. As for help with the install...make sure you use a new and ultra sharp blade...and also wad up a paper towel and wet it. Keep dabbing the wet towel on the sides when you trim it & also wet the crown often as you cut the radius. The moisture allows the leather to cut a little easier which also eliminates the stress on the leather that can often cause one to explode and fuzz up. Same technique as Tiger directs you to use on the Sniper installs. Works like charm. I never get a bad Triangle now....and all the ones I install seem very consistant as well. Before taking these steps it was hit or miss trying to get a good one like everyone else. And 14mm are what I prefer. If you want to firm them up some so they never mushroom...you can also soak them in mineral spirits for a couple days then lightly press them until dry. Lightly pressed they play just a shade stiffer than normal....or you can press them down to near phenolic quality. A little trial & error & find what you like best.:)

Thanks for the info Mr. Varney :thumbup:
 

Pre-Flag Master

Cue Ball Man
Silver Member
If you want to firm them up some so they never mushroom...you can also soak them in mineral spirits for a couple days then lightly press them until dry. Lightly pressed they play just a shade stiffer than normal....or you can press them down to near phenolic quality. A little trial & error & find what you like best.:)

Why mineral spirits?

thanks
 
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