Question about Sniper tips

The black side is the glue side. But that's all I know about it.

Sniper tips are my favorite tips of the many different tips that i've tried. They seem to firm up after you've played with them a while and they are perfect for me. The black side is the glue side and it appears to be some kind of sealer, but i'm not positive what it is. I do know that you must have sharp tools to install a sniper tip correctly because if you try to install it with dull cutting tools you will have a danger of de-lamination. If it's installed correctly you'll be very pleased with the tip.......

James

here is a video of how Tiger Sniper Tip is installed. It is done on a lathe. It helps to moisten the sides of the tip before trimming the excess.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1sx48J_N3A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysNZItIv_UU

9-ball-fever said:

Thanks James.

I have a mate putting this tip on for me tomrrow. He has put on alot of snooker tips, but no 9-ball ones. Another questions i have is, the sniper its a 14mm tip, and my shaft (Predator Z1) is only 11.75mm. Do we just cut off the excess around the outside with a very sharp stanley knife once the tip is on? or will this wreck the layers?

After we have glued it on, do we just cut off excess tip with a stanley knife (as mentioned above), then just shape the tip with sand paper?

Cheers!

Click to expand...

Best of luck with your Sniper! They are awesome tips if you can get them right. I got a good one the first time, and I was hooked.

I would strongly advise you to not try to cut a Sniper with a knife. The two times I tried this it did not work, despite wetting the tip, using a box knife with a brand new razor blade, and being extremely careful. This is a tip that really needs to be cut on a lathe with a sharp bit, and even that is no guarantee that you will get a good install.

I have had 9 Sniper tips over the last few years, 2 DIY installs and 7 pro installs. Both of the ones I installed delaminated during install, and 4 of the 7 professionally installed tips delaminated during install as well. I chalk part of it up to just bad luck, but when I did the math and realized that I had spent an average of $109 for each good Sniper, I decided to switch to Kamui. I think the Snipers play better when they are right, but when they are blown out, they play about like a $1 Elkmaster, so extreme care must be taken during installation.

Good luck,
Aaron

9-ball-fever said:

Ah nice, but unfortunately we don't have the access to a lathe.
If we just Trim of the excess with a stanley knife around the ferral, then just shapen it with sand paper, do you think this is ok and safe to do?

Cheers!

Click to expand...

What kind of joint pin is the Z1 shaft? If its a common one, you can try to use a makeshift lathe with a drill and the common pin. If its something like a uniloc, it might be harder to attach on a makeshift lathe.

9-ball-fever said:

Thanks Aaron!

Unfortunately here in Australia in Wagga Waga where I am living is about 4 hours from someone with a cue lathe...
So just going to have to try it with a stanley (Box) knife, and shapen it with sand paper. I pray to god it works! Have a big tournament in 2 weeks, so I need to get some practise before then, hopefully with a new tip! lol

Do you or anyone else have any advice and extra precaution I can take to TRY put this new tip on? I will still wet it abit, to try sofen it etc...

Cheers!

Click to expand...

Well, if I were going to try it again I would do a couple of things differently.

1) re-moisten the sides of the tip as you trim it, so that it doesn't dry out during the trimming process. i think this may help reduce stress on the tip.

2) seek out the very sharpest razor blade available. i had some carpet guys tell me one time that there was a special blade they used that was much sharper than the standard razor blade that comes in the stanley knife.

3) as much as possible, cut slightly downward (toward the ferrule) on the tip rather than using the traditional method of turning the shaft upside-down on a table or something, and cutting the other way. in other words, cut in a direction that pushes the layers together rather than apart.

4) Favor trimming over sanding. Not only is it nearly impossible to avoid sanding the ferrule when you sand a tip, I suspect that the heat generated by sanding could have a negative effect on the glue that holds the layers together. Perhaps keeping the tip moist during sanding could help as well??

Those are just the things that I personally would try if I were doing it again, but you also have to keep in mind that this is coming from a person who has a zero percent success rate at installing Snipers by hand.

Makeshift lathes can be bought or built for not too much money. I am actually in the process of building one for myself right now. I see them on ebay from time to time also. Go to ebay and search for "portable pool cue repair lathe". The one I am building is similar to that, and it will just be for tip replacement. I figure to have $60-$80 in it when I am done.

Aaron

9-ball-fever said:

Yes, its Unilock. What exactly is a makeshift lathe?
Cheers!

Click to expand...

the Makeshift lathe I'm talking about is 'lathe' that is made from a drill and a joint pin. The shaft is attached to the drill by a matching pin in the chuck of the drill. The drill is turned on, and the shaft spins, sometimes wobbly because the chuck isnt fully centered. The tip end usually moves, but can be held centered by the hand as you trim or sand the tip. I've seen it done before.

Snipers will definitely delaminate if you apply any cutting force away from the ferrule. Here are my suggestions: If you must use a knife, hold the shaft vertically, tip down against a hard surface and trim. That way, your cutting force won't be pulling the layers apart. Another way is to use a belt sander, or even an electric drill with a sanding disc. Mask the ferrule with 2-3 turns of masking tape, wet the tip and use 100-120 grit to reduce the tip diameter down to the tape diameter, rotating the shaft slowly but constantly to avoid any heat build-up in one spot. Switch to a 320-500 grit, remove the tape and take the tip down to where you're almost touching the ferrule. Finish up by hand with 1000-1500 grit and burnish. Always keep a Sniper wet while sanding.
Hope this helps.
Bill

I have put on three of them. At the time I did not have a drill based lathe and though I have one now I doubt that I will use it for tip replacement next time.

I stand the cue stick on end on the tip and use a razor blade to slice the tip down to roughly the size of my Z2 shaft. Then I use about 100 grade sand paper to get it reasonably close. After that I use 150 finish it off. Finally I use a tip tool at a slight angle to get a perect match.

To get a dime radius I put the tip tool on the floor and twirl the stick as though I were making a fire without matches. Takes a few minutes to grind the right radius.

I am on my third Sniper and have put Snipers on for at least one other person. I have had no trouble so far.

There are many different recommendations from many people who are far more obsessive than me. For my part, I am just a guy who likes to play and doesn't want to spend a fortune for good equipment.

I don't break with my Z2 and have found that a Sniper tip lasts about six months because I like to keep that dime radius. I play about three hours a day usually six or seven days a week.