:: My First Tip Change (by hand) - How do i improve? ::

Jive

Professional Racker
Silver Member
I have a small collection of cues and it's always a challenge to get a tip change where i am (Wuhan, China - which is central China).

The only pro store with a lathe doesn't know how to do things professionally and it's heart wrenching to see him at work on my cues every time i desperately need a tip change. My best option is to ship it more than a thousand miles to Zen Cues in Shanghai but that's too much a risk shipping the shaft via courier for a tip change..

After seeing that thread on Kamui Tip Change video and advice from several guys on that thread, i'm finally inspired and motivated to do it myself without any lathe.

I bought a bunch of tools and got started. Since it was my first attempt i got an old house cue from home and tried on it first...it failed miserably...the glue didn't hold and it just popped out when i tried to cut it.

Then i moved on to another old shaft and this time it was better albeit it looked like a dog or rat chewed on the tip when i was done.

An hour of terrible work i was pretty confident that i was THE human lathe and nothing could stop me.

I moved on to the first shaft that desperately needed a tip change, a Southwest...talking about balls huh...if red bull gives you wings, Macallan gives you balls.
After 45 mins of working on the shaft this is the result...









Here are the tools i bought, truth is i only used a couple of them..





As you can see the change isn't perfect compared to some of the other hand changed tips...the side of the tip isn't perfectly curved and round against the ferrule and you can see some cut lines. The toughest bit was achieving the Dime tip...any advice on how to do better and easier way to get the round tip? I spent ALOT of time on shaping it and i used a Cuetec Tip tool with a shaper and it wasn't easy at all...

I'm open to any and all advice cos i really want to change the tips myself...

Thanks.
 

80P

Banned
I do my own by hand. The method I use is:

Glue it on and let it set about 10 minutes.

I use one of the large pencil sharpeners to start cutting.

Then porper cut rite

Proper mushroom grazer to finish

Then burnish

My tips always look great and perform even better


Sent from my RM-917_nam_usa_100 using Tapatalk
 

80P

Banned
However I am currently in the market for a lathe.....so I won't be doing them by hand much longer


Sent from my RM-917_nam_usa_100 using Tapatalk
 

pooln8r

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Buy a cue repair lathe or a willards classic tipper trimmer.

I second the Willard classic tip tool. I have one and with a sharp blade in it it sure makes the tip trimming very easy. A basic cue repair lathe would be ideal but you can do a real clean install with a Willard.

Your install looks very playable and not bad at all for one of your first attempts. It will get better with practice and exponentially better with a repair lathe or Willard.

Good shooting to you,

Kevin
 

63Kcode

AKA Larry Vigus
Silver Member
Just like any hand job. You get better with practice.

Spend a little money and buy a repair lathe. Your cues deserve it.

Larry
 

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
Looks pretty good for your first job! Make sure you let the glue get tacky before applying the tip. I put a light coating of glue on both the ferrule and the tip and then wait until they are ready to be joined. I like to clamp the tip on for a little while (maybe even a few hours) before going to work on it. You can use a large rubber band as a clamp to hold the tip in place. Even turning the cue upside down and setting it upright on the tip in the corner will work. The weight of the cue will be enough to make the tip take hold.

I also like to use one of those long hard plastic tip shapers with sandpaper inside to shape the tip. The gray ones with two sides (one flat and one curved) work quite well. I will clean the edges of the tip with fine sand paper and burnish the sides with a piece of leather. I never cut my tips! I use fine sandpaper very carefully to take them down to size. You can do it without ever touching your shaft if you're careful.

I don't work as fast as most guys but when I'm done the tip will be premo! I've put tips on at my house for a lot of players with no complaints yet. :wink:
I can also remove dings from shafts so that you won't be able to find any evidence of it later. I've never used a lathe! I would probably hurt myself. :)
 

c_bruner

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
This is gonna sound totally weird.. but if your edges around the ferrule and the tip don't feel flush... use (I kid you not) a pencil sharpener. A pretty big one, that way you can keep the tip and ferrule flush to the edge of the sharpener. Making the tip perfect
 

Jive

Professional Racker
Silver Member
Buy a cue repair lathe or a willards classic tipper trimmer.


I did consider and I can buy a decent China or Taiwan made model for around $400...I just think its a little excessive for just changing on tip and seeing how well some guys do it by hand I figured I can't be that useless..
 

Jive

Professional Racker
Silver Member
I second the Willard classic tip tool. I have one and with a sharp blade in it it sure makes the tip trimming very easy. A basic cue repair lathe would be ideal but you can do a real clean install with a Willard.



Your install looks very playable and not bad at all for one of your first attempts. It will get better with practice and exponentially better with a repair lathe or Willard.



Good shooting to you,



Kevin


Am gonna check this Willard Tip Tool out.
 

Jive

Professional Racker
Silver Member
Just like any hand job. You get better with practice.



Spend a little money and buy a repair lathe. Your cues deserve it.



Larry


I know Larry..I used to be really good with my hands but it's been a long while since I'm hands on...things are cheaper in China and I just don't do things on my own anymore...

As for the lathe...I'm seriously considering but I'm gonna give my hands a try a few more time. It served me well and I'm sure the magic touch will be back. Have faith in me buddy.
 

Jive

Professional Racker
Silver Member
Looks pretty good for your first job! Make sure you let the glue get tacky before applying the tip. I put a light coating of glue on both the ferrule and the tip and then wait until they are ready to be joined. I like to clamp the tip on for a little while (maybe even a few hours) before going to work on it. You can use a large rubber band as a clamp to hold the tip in place. Even turning the cue upside down and setting it upright on the tip in the corner will work. The weight of the cue will be enough to make the tip take hold.

I also like to use one of those long hard plastic tip shapers with sandpaper inside to shape the tip. The gray ones with two sides (one flat and one curved) work quite well. I will clean the edges of the tip with fine sand paper and burnish the sides with a piece of leather. I never cut my tips! I use fine sandpaper very carefully to take them down to size. You can do it without ever touching your shaft if you're careful.

I don't work as fast as most guys but when I'm done the tip will be premo! I've put tips on at my house for a lot of players with no complaints yet. :wink:
I can also remove dings from shafts so that you won't be able to find any evidence of it later. I've never used a lathe! I would probably hurt myself. :)


With that I'm even more confident about getting my next top right.

Here's a question though.

Do you remove the tapes around the ferrule before you cut the tip down to size or do you leave it on for protection? I noticed that if I left he tape on the tip is very slightly protruding from the side of the ferrule.

Also what grit of sandpaper to use to sand the tip to shape and when doing so should I have the tape on the ferrule or without? If without with my sandpaper scratch the ferrule?

Thanks :)
 

Jive

Professional Racker
Silver Member
Which also allows you to shape the tip also if the sharpener is big enough..


Hey that's smart! I never thought about using the sharpener to do the tip for shape first. Gonna do another shaft later to try.
 
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