Cue tip side thickness question

[ekb6760]

Is there a recommended thickness for the side of a cue tip? Does it vary with the type of tip, i.e. laminated vs. non laminated, soft tip vs. hard tip, etc.? Thank you for your input.

 

[BryanMordt]

It's all personal preference. I initially leaving the tip on the thicker side and after breaking it in, doing a final trim & shape.

 

[jschelin99]

Tip thickness does effect the feel of the hit: a brand new tip will hit softer and as it wears down and/or is ground down the hit will get firmer. But, I wouldn't recommend letting the side thickness (aka shoulder) get smaller than the thickness of a nickel. Unless you also want to risk cracking the ferrule.

 

[tsp&b]

To the original poster

Is there a recommended thickness for the side of a cue tip? Does it vary with the type of tip, i.e. laminated vs. non laminated, soft tip vs. hard tip, etc.? Thank you for your input.

All thew factors you mentioned can affect the final thickness of the tip. However, one of the main factors in the thickness of the tip is the original Diameter of the tip. If you apply an oversize tip and trim it down then the remaining tip you have left will be into thicker part of the tip. If you apply a smalled diameter tip, less is trimmed off from the side so the side of the remaining tip will be thiner.

As previously stated... "Tip thickness does effect the feel of the hit: a brand new tip will hit softer and as it wears down and/or is ground down the hit will get firmer. But, I wouldn't recommend letting the side thickness (aka shoulder) get smaller than the thickness of a nickel. Unless you also want to risk cracking the ferrule."

The break in period for a new tip can be reduced by pressing the tips before installing them.

 

[rhncue]

In the 60's and early 70's I liked using Elk Master tips but of coarse I didn't like the many drawbacks (severe mushrooming, super soft and no conformity from shot to shot). What I did was to trim the tip down to between 1/32 and 1/16 inch. At this height the tip was very firm, a much harder, sharper hit but still grabbed when using acute English. I only left them on for around two weeks before installing a new one but back then they were only around 3.00 a box of 50 and I installed them myself so it was very cost effective.

Dick

 

[Mase]

As a starting point I never leave the edge of the tip higher than 1/2 the width of the tip. This is a rule of thumb I have seen on here before and it makes sense. Any higher and you risk splitting the tip when you put extream spin on it.

 

[BLACKHEARTCUES]

As a starting point I never leave the edge of the tip higher than 1/2 the width of the tip. This is a rule of thumb I have seen on here before and it makes sense. Any higher and you risk splitting the tip when you put extream spin on it.

I take the width of the tip x .4 to get the edge height. That means a 13mm (.512) tip would have an edge height of about .200". Too tall of a tip, can pop the tip off, on an off- center hit...JER

 

[TomHay]

If the Tip feels a little soft in hit to you after being applied don't worry as it will become firmer and to your liking after some use. If it hits harder than you like replace it cause it aint going the other way.