Fixing a mushroomed tip

[briankenobi]

I was at league last night talking to some friends about mushrooming tips and how we corrected them. We all have slightly different plans of attack. So here is the question that I ask to the plethera of AZers, what is your "plan of attach" to fixing mushroomed tips?

 

[Autist]

Depens how mushroomed it is.
Sometimes it needs cutting down with a very sharp blade and then sanding.

I never let my own tip get mushroomed enough, whenever I see it being slightly mushroomed is sand it down quickly.

But I haven't had the need to sand down my kamui brown medium once, after 8 or so months. The tip will probably last me another 6 months.

 

[Celophanewrap]

I'll put it on the lathe and shave it down and try to taper the tip a bit. That's always worked out well for me

 

[hang-the-9]

I was at league last night talking to some friends about mushrooming tips and how we corrected them. We all have slightly different plans of attack. So here is the question that I ask to the plethera of AZers, what is your "plan of attach" to fixing mushroomed tips?

I use this https://www.seyberts.com/images/products/1013.jpg but almost never have to. I use a Kamui Soft tip and it barely goes out of shape, maybe bulges out a tiny bit. The tip tool takes care of that and makes it straight again.

If a tip keeps mushrooming, it's either a bad tip or it was put on in some odd way (not burnished or cut right or something).

 

[Petros Andrikop]

I always put some tape for protection around the ferrule when I do it.
Petros

 

[Cornerman]

AZers, what is your "plan of attach" to fixing mushroomed tips?

Why, did yours fall off?

Freddie <~~~ uses the Big Shaver

 

[bbb]

i havent read the replies but from my experience having tried multiple mushrom tip repair tools
i scratched my ferrule with some and just got frustrated
so i recommmend a cue repair guy to fix your mushrooming problems
my solution was to switch to a
medium tip(kamui) that doesnt mushroom

 

[erriep]

i use this simple tool, for a while (now i protect the ferrule & the beginning of the shaft , but it's easy to use) . after, i burnish the edge of the tip, and hop , play again -->
http://store.kozoom.com/uk/carom_billiards/tip-sharpener.html

cheap, work well...

 

[MitchAlsup]

I carry a 4*4 piece of 80 grit sand paper. Fold the sandpaper in your palm, then holding and rotating the cue in one hand with the but on the floor, gently stroke the folded sandpaper over the tip. Observe the tip and change the angle of the sandpaper to develop a nickle to dime radius. The more you rotate the cue as you stroke the sandpaper, the more perfect the spherical shape will be.

 

[briankenobi]

Why, did your fall off?

Freddie <~~~ uses the Big Shaver

Nope. We were just talking about how there are like a million ways to work on the tips. A fellow player had some issues with his tip and we were giving him some advice. I wanted to see what everyone else does.

 

[Skratch]

Sanding is a bit too consuming to get it right so I don't bother. I'd rather cut it. I use a moori hard. It keeps the shape longer. I gather it would be the same with other layered hard tips. Softer ones will do it more readily as it compresses over time and bulges out. Additionally I seal/burnish it after cutting. I think this is what does the trick to keep the shape longer. As will either sanding/cutting, you'll need to be mindful of getting into the ferrule. I no longer use singles (tips) for this very reason. It just mushrooms too easily/often. There are lots of tools out there. Choose one that works for you.

 

[West Point 1987]

Here's a little road trick...if your mushroom isn't too bad (just feel it and maybe see it, but it's just starting) wet the edge of the tip (really wet it, with saliva), place the shaft (without the butt) flat on the table, and roll it back and forth with heavy pressure on the ferrule with your hand. Keep doing it until you can't feel the mushroom, then burnish the he@$ out of it with a dollar bill. Usually only have to do it once, soon after a new tip is installed...then you shouldn't have any more mushroom issues.

(p.s.: Don't let the room owner see you do this on one of his tables...doesn't hurt the surface/cloth, but it makes 'em nervous to see you do it).

 

[Scaramouche]

Why bother?

Mushroom tips have won a world snooker championship

Peter Ebdon's tip :grin:

 

[dnixon]

I just buy new ones

 

[Black-Balled]

Why bother?

Mushroom tips have won a world snooker championship

Peter Ebdon's tip :grin:

Holy crap.

I wonder how much faster he'd run with shoes that fit?!

 

[jschelin99]

I know this will sound a bit self-serving, but I highly recommend bringing your mushroomed tip to a cue repairman. Burnishing the sides of the tip back to flush with the ferrule poses a few problems, most notably: scratching the heck out of your ferrule, twisting the tip right off, or creating too much heat thereby weakening the glue holding your tip on and increasing the chances your tip will pop off. Furthermore, burnishing the tip flush will only be a temporary fix and it will eventually mushroom again.

If you bring your mushroomed tip to a cue repairman, the excess leather is trimmed off and the tip will most likely not mushroom again. It's a 3-minute job on a lathe and any cue guy with an ounce of respect won't charge much more than $5.

 

[3andstop]

I have found this the best way if you don't have a lathe, or if you are out playing. Much better than those tools that simply squeeze the mushroom in their cone shape opening IMO.

It has a stop screw that you can fine tune to prevent damage to the ferrule.

After you repair the mushroom, dampen the sides with some saliva and fold up a dollar bill, hold it over the side of the tip and roll the shaft across your thighs while you are sitting down until the dollar gets heated up over the side of the tip.

 

[Blue Hog ridr]

If you don't have a lathe, the Mushroom Grazer and the Little Shaver work great.

Some installers will actually cut the tip at a very slight angle, so if the tip should mushroom a bit, it ends up taking a natural shape.

My experience has been that the Ultimate Tip Tool is one of the worst.

Apply a bit too much pressure and you can easily twist the tip right off.

 

[driven]

Why bother?

Mushroom tips have won a world snooker championship

Peter Ebdon's tip :grin:

what he said. but wow.

 

[JLD]

After you have shaped the tip and sanded to make it smooth simply saturate the side of the tip with super glue being careful not to get glue on the surface of the tip or on the ferrule. Have been doing this with all my tips for the last 20 years and have had no problems with mushrooming since.