last time I tested elkmaster tips
Wrote a book as I often do. Some might find the information interesting and find that it adds to their knowledge of leather and tips. Some might want to stop right here! Like much of my information, this might be dated.
We used to just throw single layer tips in a cup of water. Tossed them if they floated, used them if they sunk. Here is how my last box of Elkmaster's tested.
I dont mind a quick wetting before cutting but I don't like soaking tips. With the low price of digital scales now I used a digital caliper locked in place to quickly confirm outside dimensions on the tips, then I weigh them. A few less than ten were very light, I tossed them. Less than fifty cents a tip, no big deal. Roughly thirty-seven of the tips fell into one of two very consistent lots of the same weight. Three or four fell in another grouping, very heavy. I used the tips out of the two medium lots to make milkduds or install on my own shafts just as they were. All of these worked fine. I wanted to test the very heavy tips but they were lost in a flood.
Elkmasters use some kind of a chromium treatment to tan their leather.(zinc chromate?) It gives the tips a blueish color. They seem to enhance that color a little with blue chalk dust these days. I don't remember this with the Elkmasters from earlier times, much earlier.
An issue with all leather, the quality of the hide. Most comes from slaughter houses and at least here in the US most are well taken care of that come from these controlled conditions. The care for hides can be far worse in some places. Also, some hides come from cows that die on the range, particularly winter killed cows. The condition of these hides is often open to question and the position of the cow on the ground may mean that part of the hide is salvageable, part shouldn't be salvaged. This may be the only thing salvaged from dead cattle so the judgment is tainted by trying to salvage something from the loss of an animal. Hides are questionable from many countries. Not as bad here in the US but it can happen, especially since the hide may be of varying quality in different places on the animal.
The tanning process is another issue. There isn't one simple tanning process, there are seemingly countless ways to tan a hide. "Tanning" comes from using the tannic acid primarily from oak trees. Brains can be used for tanning also, many different things including harsh chemicals. The tanning process can be very time sensitive and if the tanning process isn't controlled properly or the acids or other chemicals used aren't completely cleaned from the hide or "killed" the process can continue severely weakening the finished product. The cheapest tanning process is seldom the best.
While I am talking specifically about cow hides here, the same things apply to all hides that are tanned. The best leather comes from hides carefully cared for and carefully tanned. Many many things can affect the quality of the final product.
A side note: I would have thought an artificial tip would have replaced leather long ago. I do know that synthetic tips are out there but they don't seem to gain public approval. Some rules specify leather also.
I wrote a book here, hopefully to aid people in understanding why their buddies all bought Acme tips and they were great, you bought one and it was crapola! Unless somebody has quality hide or leather suppliers or keeps a careful eye on the quality of the leather they receive to make tips from, it is very easy to get a bad hide or piece of leather sometimes. Major manufacturers may not have quality controls in place to keep up with the volume of tips they make. This is one reason I don't use layered tips. If one layer is bad the tip may come apart either in the installation or normal use through no fault of the cuesmith or player.
A final note, If you know the area a tannery is in within a half mile or so you can find it by following your nose. They are infamous for the foul smell that makes paper mills and turkey farms smell like flower gardens in comparison!
Hu