elk master tips
- Thread starter JayBates
- Start date
seems to me that LePro tips are usually a little harder than what they advertise. Elkmasters are supposed to be a softer tip, unless you get a pressed elkmaster.
personally i play with pressed elkmaster tips. Mark Wilson told me that Efren used to play with Elkmasters. bottom line is if it works for you, play with it. tips are like cues, everybody's got a preference.
DCP
personally i play with pressed elkmaster tips. Mark Wilson told me that Efren used to play with Elkmasters. bottom line is if it works for you, play with it. tips are like cues, everybody's got a preference.
DCP
I've been using Elk Masters for a few years, switched from LePro after finding them too slick. I like Elk Master tips because I can put a fair bit of spin on the ball without having to go too far off center-ball. I get about 4 to 6 months out of a tip, I play/practice perhaps 10-15 hrs/wk. Like Koop says, they are a little soft (although I'd be willing to bet they play and feel better than applesauce). Maybe I hit the ball to softly to mushroom these tips, but I've never had a severe mushrooming problem.
For the price (like, what, $0.75 ?) , why not try one for a while and see what you think ?
Dave
For the price (like, what, $0.75 ?) , why not try one for a while and see what you think ?
Dave
Koop.
How would you press a tip to get even compression? Elkmasters are flat on the bottom, but rounded on top. If you put one in a vice, the center is going to compress more than the edges.
It seems easier to find a tip that is already of the hardness that you want in a tip. That's why I use Triangles.
Steve
How would you press a tip to get even compression? Elkmasters are flat on the bottom, but rounded on top. If you put one in a vice, the center is going to compress more than the edges.
It seems easier to find a tip that is already of the hardness that you want in a tip. That's why I use Triangles.
Steve
Koop said:OK Dave, maybe not apple sauce. More like a half rotten tomato
This is excellent news as I'll have a lot of those after last nights frost !
Dave, who was wondering what to do with those half rotten tomatoes
PS a concave die would be needed to press a tip without distorting it
Long ago, in a faraway newsgroup, a venerated cuemaker explained how he prepped Elk Masters.
He soaked his Elk Master tips in milk for 24 hours. Why, he didn't say. I suspect the milk solids bind the leather fibers together, making the tip harder.
He made a "special jig," which must be somewhat like a metal or wooden plate with a 13mm hole in it and another one with a short rod of equal diameter sticking out of it. Actually, if I was doing this, there'd be lots of holes and rods.
He put a milk-soaked tip (or tips) in the jig and cranked it up in a bench vise. He cranked some more to take up the slack every hour for 6 hours.
Then he went to bed.
When he got up the next morning, he had compressed Elk Master tip(s).
He soaked his Elk Master tips in milk for 24 hours. Why, he didn't say. I suspect the milk solids bind the leather fibers together, making the tip harder.
He made a "special jig," which must be somewhat like a metal or wooden plate with a 13mm hole in it and another one with a short rod of equal diameter sticking out of it. Actually, if I was doing this, there'd be lots of holes and rods.
He put a milk-soaked tip (or tips) in the jig and cranked it up in a bench vise. He cranked some more to take up the slack every hour for 6 hours.
Then he went to bed.
When he got up the next morning, he had compressed Elk Master tip(s).
Do you soak before pressing or?
I think I read another post that talked about soaking the Elkmasters in goat milk
Are all elkmasters the manufactured at the same hardness?
I guess the guy above me used Zen to know what I was going to post.
I think I read another post that talked about soaking the Elkmasters in goat milk
Are all elkmasters the manufactured at the same hardness?
I guess the guy above me used Zen to know what I was going to post.
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Le Pro are good tips, but they are inconsistent. Take a box of 50 Le Pros and there will be at least a dozen that are just plain worthless. Of the remainders, half will wear irregularly and play inconsistently. Maybe half the 20 or so left will play really nicely.
Elk Masters are awfully soft. If you like that spongy feel, they will perform okay. But if soaking them in milk and pressing them in a vice to make them harder is the answer to them being too spongy, what's the point of choosing a soft tip?
in my opinion, of the solid tips, the clear winner is Triangle. Tip to tip, box to box, they are remarkably consistent. Every Triangle plays as well or better than the select best Le Pros, but with more feel. The Triangle tips hold their shape really well, yet they are not bone hard. They are not prone to glazing over like Le Pro, either.
I'd place the Moori III M and Everest as slightly better than a Triangle for tip wear. Other than that, all three tips play and feel very, very close. It's a difficult choice between the three. That said, Triangles cost less than a dollar each, while Everest and Moori III cost $10-15 each.
Elk Masters are awfully soft. If you like that spongy feel, they will perform okay. But if soaking them in milk and pressing them in a vice to make them harder is the answer to them being too spongy, what's the point of choosing a soft tip?
in my opinion, of the solid tips, the clear winner is Triangle. Tip to tip, box to box, they are remarkably consistent. Every Triangle plays as well or better than the select best Le Pros, but with more feel. The Triangle tips hold their shape really well, yet they are not bone hard. They are not prone to glazing over like Le Pro, either.
I'd place the Moori III M and Everest as slightly better than a Triangle for tip wear. Other than that, all three tips play and feel very, very close. It's a difficult choice between the three. That said, Triangles cost less than a dollar each, while Everest and Moori III cost $10-15 each.
rackem said:I think I read another post that talked about soaking the Elkmasters in goat milk
Are all elkmasters the manufactured at the same hardness?
I guess the guy above me used Zen to know what I was going to post.
All inexpensive tips vary in hardness quite a bit, Elk Masters less than Le Pros. They're cheap because quality control and rejects are expensive.
The venerated cuemaker whom I paraphrased used cow's milk.
Actually, one's own urine works better than milk, investing the tip with some of one's chi (life force). But don't tell your cue mechanic when you hand him the tip you've prepared for him to install.
Hello, I am located in Lakewood, Washington. I have been pressing Elk Master tip for the Filipino players in this area for over two years.
I do not soak them in milk, I do however press them in a Vise. A jig is not necessary though because of the hardness of the tip.
I press Elk Master tips for five days. Each morning I tighten the vise a little more.
On the sixth day I remove the tip, and store it for later use.
I suspect that most people know that most if not all of the top Filipino players use pressed Elk Master Tips, including Efren.
manwon
I do not soak them in milk, I do however press them in a Vise. A jig is not necessary though because of the hardness of the tip.
I press Elk Master tips for five days. Each morning I tighten the vise a little more.
On the sixth day I remove the tip, and store it for later use.
I suspect that most people know that most if not all of the top Filipino players use pressed Elk Master Tips, including Efren.
manwon
I used to use elk master tips when i played alot of 3 cushion. (non heated table) and they would mushroom on me everytime. even after 1 use so now i use a talisman medium domed tip................mike