First experience with milk duds.

[asn130]

has anyone ever tried soaking them in sugar water?

I'm trying to guess why the milk makes them hold chalk very well, even though pressing them makes them hard.

The only thing i can think of is that the milk makes them sticky???

I'm gonna go buy a box of elks & give this a try i think.

 

[penoy78]

I have used every tip too and gave up on them as well probably for the same resons you did.

What exact formula did you use, tip's, milk, tempeature, how long did you soak them, etc.

I would really appericate it if you would share the info, if its a secret thats cool too.

Quite honestly I just followed the directions here on AZ. Regular milk that I soaked the elk master in and stuck in the fridge for 24 hours (give or take). After, I dried it down with a rag and clamped it for another 24 hours. As stated earlier, DON'T compress it too much or you'll end up with a tip that sounds like it's phenolic when you hit with it. Compress it so that it shrinks down to about where it was before you soak it would be the best advise that I can give. Then you're ready to install it.

Hope this helps.

 

[penoy78]

has anyone ever tried soaking them in sugar water?

I'm trying to guess why the milk makes them hold chalk very well, even though pressing them makes them hard.

The only thing i can think of is that the milk makes them sticky???

I'm gonna go buy a box of elks & give this a try i think.

You won't be disappointed. As stated earlier, IMO the secret is to try to compress the tip and have it close to the size you had it before you soaked it.

 

[Fatboy]

Quite honestly I just followed the directions here on AZ. Regular milk that I soaked the elk master in and stuck in the fridge for 24 hours (give or take). After, I dried it down with a rag and clamped it for another 24 hours. As stated earlier, DON'T compress it too much or you'll end up with a tip that sounds like it's phenolic when you hit with it. Compress it so that it shrinks down to about where it was before you soak it would be the best advise that I can give. Then you're ready to install it.

Hope this helps.

Thanks I'm gonna play around with this.

 

[stikapos]

I too tried the milk dud thing. While I'll probably let Mike Johnson do the work next time, it was a good learning experience. First Gen was squeezed too much. Second Gen was better. Next Gen will be 14mm's and not so much squeezing. Observations ? Holds chaulk well. Very accurate on off center hits. Gets the ball rolling in a hurry, but needs a bit of help with spinning the rock and drawing. Two days of hits and not a lot of draw. Won't replace a sniper, but a very effective tip for a lesser player or a real soft hitting cue that you'd like to tighten up.

tim

 

[BHQ]

Elkmasters like everything else ain't what they used to be. I use a precision scale to weigh each one. The very light ones are tossed, if I get an odd ball heavy one it is gone too, the reasonably dense ones I use. Some folks drop them in water to do the same test but then you have water where you want a dairy product to be.

Hu

Elkmasters like everything else ain't what they used to be
that's for sure
half of the box is rotten, dry rotted,
milk, water, nothing will help them

 

[arsenius]

I just got a box of elk master's last week. My friend works at a billiard supply company and they have some machine the owner built to press and steam tips. My friend pressed the whole box for me. They play great! They're nice and hard, which gives my Predator shaft a nice *ting* sound. I've been missing that for a long time. When I miscue there is absolutely minimal damage to the side of the tip, which is great. I was having a lot of problems with my old tip (Thomas layered, hard). They didn't hold chalk well and when I miscued they broke into the sidewall of the tip.

The only problem I have with them is the blue dust they are covered in. Really gets all over the place.. It took a few minutes to sand down past the pores that were covered in it (a must or they won't stay on). Also, mine are only 13mm, not 14. So they are a bit tricky to apply.

Overall, I'm thrilled. I probably won't have to buy tips again for 10 years, since I have 46 more to go!

 

[stikapos]

no doubt on the quality thing. Out of five I bought, three were usable after soaking. the other two wound up looking like mountains...

tim

 

[ob1-mackie]

i use 14mm elkmaster,soak them in semi skimmed milk for 24 hours....if they float discard...if they sink they are the good ones.
compress in vice for 24 hours.....i usually do a full turn after it gets difficult to turn...the 24 hours in the vice gives the tip time to air dry.
the milk dud is then ready to install.
i break/shoot and jump with mine and they never mushroom/lose shape and hold chalk perfectly.
i've used nearly every tip on the market and milk duds play the best for me.the only other tips i don't mind are triangles and kamui m/s.

 

[Hail Mary Shot]

but needs a bit of help with spinning the rock and drawing. Two days of hits and not a lot of draw. Won't replace a sniper, but a very effective tip for a lesser player or a real soft hitting cue that you'd like to tighten up.

tim

this must be due to adjustment but nothing you cannot work on. I too had to work out the chinks on putting more juice on the CB than I use to be when I was using a sniper. with regards to spin, in my observation, they have the same results. probably because I'm used to spinning. now the noticeable things about the EM (md) are no mushrooming, no need to re-shape your tip for a very very long time, almost no miscues on english application (miscues due to improper stroking). no miscues or skids on draw shots unlike on a regular EM tip, holds chalk better just the same.

I'm also using one for crushing racks and does sound like I have a phenolic tip on. what was funny is that one guy approach me and asked what tip I was using. I said I was merely using an EM tip on, which greatly surprised him since it looked like I was using a phenolic and looked I was crushing those balls to tiny bits. by the way, he was using a phenolic tip and breaks like a wuss (no offense, just brutally honest).

 

[dgem]

Some Filipinos soak their tips in paint thinner. :smile:

 

[Impact Blue]

i use 14mm elkmaster,soak them in semi skimmed milk for 24 hours....if they float discard...if they sink they are the good ones.

I'm taking my turn at making one now, stewing in half-n-half (no real milk in the house) and the single tip I bought ended up floating, and one I had lying around sunk.

Why do you suggest that the one that floats is of lesser quality, or playablility?

Either way, I'll let you guys know how it goes. I'm putting one on a high GRPI shaft and my OB-1.

 

[Impact Blue]

Phase two: they are both in the vice.

They both ended up sinking eventually, but the one that floated first took on twice it's size in fluid, the sinking one only a little bit. To continue on the experiment I have them in the same press to eye's width they were before submersion.

I might add a little more pressure here in a couple hours; the round fell in to itself pretty easily, but when it got to the beveled edge, the resistance was very much there. I don't want to push it.

Still, can anyone answer the above question? I think I'm going to add the thinner, first-to-sink tip on the OB-1. I suspect that it's going to be harder. Just a hunch....