It's been my experience with Ultraskin Medium, Kamui Black Soft, and Elkmaster. I probably wasn't as judicious with the scuffer with the Ultraskin.
That's good to hear. So my tip usage is in a reasonably normal range. I hear people saying they get months and years, basically indefinite life, and I feel the clock ticking away every time I pick up my cue.
I was wondering about my chalking routine. I'm scared to grind away the tip with a scuffer so I end up chalking harder. My friends think I'm crazy believing that the chalk is eating my tips.
So, I guess short tip life is something I will probably learn to deal with and maybe I can eke out a bit more. Thanks for all the replies and advice, everyone!
I’ve got months and years from tips. But they were on cues that didn’t get many hours of play. Some tips dry out and still play good-so yes very old tips can last a very long time. I have tips on cues that are 30 years old and play just fine. I know because I’ve owned the cues that long.
I start at 3/32” tall which is short or low for the side wall. I only use a tip tapper to get the glaze off. Once in a blue moon I need to re-crown a tip and get a radius I like, when I do I cut very little off the tip. I wear them down to almost the ferrel. That’s how I like my tips-most players don’t. They like them a bit taller. Took me years to figure out what I like and it’s subject to change.
SVB was at my house once with his grand dads shaft he used before he got his contract, I think that shaft eventually broke. Was a very long time ago 08 or 09
Anyways the tip on his ferrel was just a crown. There was no side to it. I asked him if he was on short $ and couldn’t afford a tip. There was no tip-just a crown. He said that’s how he liked it. I don’t like it that low. He won the Rum Runner tourney with that “crown”. I hit a few balls with it, was ok-but a bit too low for me.
I chalk before every shot no matter what chalk I’m using or if I need it or not. I don’t chalk “hard” and when I use a tip tapper I roll it to raise the fibers. I don’t sand or stroke it back and forth. Unless I’m re-crowning and that’s rare.
If I get a tip that plays good I hope it lasts. If it sucks it’s gone after a few hours. How long a tip lasts me doesn’t matter. I use Triangle tips and have cue makers install them. For some reason some guys can just do better tip work-not how it looks but how it plays. I have one friend do my tips who isn’t a cue maker and he’s good too. Again not how it looks, how the tips play.
It varies a lot for me also because I use Triangle tips and until you put it on and use it, it’s mostly guess work. I start with the 15mm’s which are hard to find. But are the most consistent.
Best
Fatboy.