Dime Radius or Nickel Radius?

Dime Radius or Nickel Radius; which do you prefer and why?

  • Dime

    Votes: 39 44.8%
  • Nickel

    Votes: 33 37.9%
  • Doesn't matter to me

    Votes: 15 17.2%

  • Total voters
    87
  • Poll closed .

hang-the-9

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Maybe the best tip would be a compound radius or even with a flat top but still sloping sides. Guitars can have compound radius necks to make fretting on the different areas easier and more comfortable, why not cue tips depending on what angle it would strike the ball at.
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
Maybe the best tip would be a compound radius or even with a flat top but still sloping sides.
I think a "flat top" would make it easier to hit centerball, but harder to know exactly when you begin adding spin - you'd be hitting centerball until your tip is offset past the flat part.

pj
chgo
 

slach

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
One of the best players at the room I play at uses an almost flat tip that's about a 1/4 inch wider than his ferrule. Looks like he's playing with a mushroom stuck on the end of his stick. Says he likes it like that but I think he's just too cheap to have someone install a tip correctly for him. Shoots really well with it, I'm thinking it might be super forgiving and helps you shoot straight. I'm tempted to try it.
 

Bob Jewett

AZB Osmium Member
Staff member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Agreed. For the reasons why, see:
There are some great scale drawings on that page. For those who don't want to click through, here is a scale drawing of the three curvatures with a cue ball for comparison. (N = nickel, etc.)

CropperCapture[295].jpg
 

dr_dave

Instructional Author
Gold Member
Silver Member

9BallKY

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I really don’t know what radius I use. I put a tip on trim it down, round the tip, use a piece of sand paper for the finishing touch and then play with it until I decide it needs a touch up then I just use sand paper and eyeball it till it looks close enough to play with.
 

bellmagic

Registered
This should get fun.
I'm 72 and have been playing since I was about 12. I've tried every brand of cue made, and probably almost every tip made. I've played with snooker cues and regular cues. I like wood to wood joints, and all my cues have a low deflection shaft with a 12.5 mm Kamuii clear black hard tip with a nickel profile. Some people like softer tips, some like a dime profile, but I can get all the english I need with that particular tip and shape and premium chalk, and don't have to worry about unintended english from a dime profile and a hit that's not perfect
 

maha

from way back when
Silver Member
the more round a tip the less chalk you will use so if you are using a 200 dollar piece of specialty chalk it should last about 50 shots longer.
that is precisely why a dime is worth twice the amount of a nickel. a penny i havent figured out yet.
i suspect cocobolo cowboy may have insight into that.
 

SSDiver2112

2b || !2b t^ ?
I think that would be worrying about nothing anyway. Here's a pic to show how little difference the tip's shape makes in where you hit the CB.

pj
chgo

View attachment 591916

This is true for the moment of contact, but how does tip hardness and compression play into this effect? This tip distortion can be seen in that slow motion video. I would think as the tip compression on impact for a less curved tip would have a larger surface area of contact.
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
This is true for the moment of contact, but how does tip hardness and compression play into this effect? This tip distortion can be seen in that slow motion video. I would think as the tip compression on impact for a less curved tip would have a larger surface area of contact.
Maybe, although I doubt that it matters.

I was responding to the concern that rounder tips might be less forgiving at centerball.

pj
chgo
 

Chili Palmer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I quit chalking my break cue to reduce spin.

It's easier than creating a true stroke. Seriously, I don't chalk it cuz I'm hitting dead center. Stupid?


Jeff Livingston

Nope, I do the same - home or at bar I rarely chalk when breaking, when I do it's out of habit. I also have a flat breaking tip.
 

TEAM SLO

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
We have always had dime shaped tips for our cues. From 11.75 up to 12.5. Recently we switched to nickel shaped and its been great for us.
 
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