I kinda laugh when this subject comes up. Why? Go find a close-up of some snooker pro's tips. Looks like their dog chewed on it and yet they make everything they look at. https://www.alamy.com/heritage-coll...3fe763374af679c8a7d38b72f4ca9f0d&searchtype=0 looks like a wad of gum.
Anyone tried shaping their tips to account for all the mushrooming/flattening that'll happen in its lifetime?
- Thread starter dlao02
- Start date
Do you burnish sides before doing this?
I usually glue the sides and top in the shaping process. Burnishing prior to this would be counter productive. These days I use ferrule sized tips, as is, to eliminate the trimming. Elkmasters soak in more glue, Le Pros won't but don't need as much. A few twists with a folded or wadded paper towel makes a good structural and top coat. The tip can subsequently be burnished normally.
So what are we going for here? Maybe sharp like a stick and just let it spread if it wants to? Asking for a friend. lol
This does not make much sense, if you are shaping a tip for what will happen to it over time, you have a badly shaped till it reaches the shape you want. Then once it flattens in shape to what you want, it will then go on to flatten more past what you want, if you have some odd tip that changes shape this badly. In my experience, even a soft tip does not need much if any shaping to keep the radius it's at over the life of the tip, and not much to keep the mushroom at bay if it was installed properly.
I'm thinking something that looks like a spire lol
My idea is that the tip flattens to a point where it doesn't flatten anymore. So I'm going for a horrible shape until it flattens to the shape I want, and then slightly more flat than that shape is also fine.
It’s like getting a haircut.
You don’t get just one, it’s a on going process.
The older a tip gets the less often it will mushroom and occasionally you’ll get a tip that doesn’t mushroom much if at all. However that’s very rare, once every few years. I’ve went through 100’s of tips over the ages.
Every tip is different. Some need more attention than others.
It’s not a one and done thing very often. It’s most usually a process on every tip you’ll ever have. Some last much longer than others. Some just suck and aren’t worth the effort-throw those away and put a new one on.
This is a never ending process if you play a lot of pool and want a nice tip at all times. It’s just part of playing pool.
Best
Fatboy<———-didn’t read any reply’s in this thread
I use the chalk to dress the tip after the initial shaping at install.
In watching Ronnie O'Sullivan, he quite often can be seen devoting attention to dressing the perimeter of the tip with the same chalk I use.
I use tips that are firm so that any mushroom tendency can be delt with by putting moisture (spit) carefully on the ferule and perimeter of the leather. Then burnish the heck out of it. The leather shrinks and hardens.
Your tip will generally conform to your playing style. You really don't need to get it closer than "a rounded playing shape" to start. A dime or a nickel shape to start will still end up with the shape your play dictates. It may never settle into a dime radius if you don't shoot a "dimes" worth.
Separately, most tips will mushroom. Single layer more than multi-layered. I slightly taper all the tips I put on, , but I use a lathe so it's easy to do. That said, rimming down a mushroom is like a 10 second job, so don't stress setting it up right. Just trim it when you can see the edge hanging over the ferrule.
I've seen a dozen or so "what's in the bag" videos for pros and notably missing is a shaper. That was interesting to me...
-td
In my 30 years of playing, I have not had a tip of anything close to normal quality go flatter on me where I needed to reshape it. I have scuffed them to keep them from getting too slick, but can't remember a time I looked at a tip and though I had to reshape it once it was to the shape I wanted. They wear down, but have not seen the shape change enough to where it looked odd to me.
Thank you!
I like hard tips for one rather simple reason. Once you get it shaped to your liking your set for a long time.
My preference is for ultra skin black hard tip. I leave it a bit tall and fatter than my ferrule at first. Then I shape it and play to see how it feels and moves the cue ball. Then I tweak it until I am satisfied. After that I am good to go for 6 months to a year.
I do own a Willard tipper with all the accessories and I must have 50 or 60 blades. I resharpen those myself starting with an 800 grit wet stone on up to a 6000 grit wet stone.. All my knives and planes are scary sharp. Spent four hours on some today.
My preference is for ultra skin black hard tip. I leave it a bit tall and fatter than my ferrule at first. Then I shape it and play to see how it feels and moves the cue ball. Then I tweak it until I am satisfied. After that I am good to go for 6 months to a year.
I do own a Willard tipper with all the accessories and I must have 50 or 60 blades. I resharpen those myself starting with an 800 grit wet stone on up to a 6000 grit wet stone.. All my knives and planes are scary sharp. Spent four hours on some today.