I use Tiger Everest tips on all of my cues and shape them like a dime with a Last4Ever tip tool. I do play and/or practice daily and it seems like I need to reshape the tip after every session. Is this normal for this particular tip? Should I consider switching brands of tips? I might add that I am 68 years old and am not the strongest man in town. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.
I have a tip question.
- Thread starter Jonbouy
- Start date
ALL TIPS lose their perfect shape, whether dime or nickel, after a few racks. It's just the nature of leather. The center dome of a freshly shaped tip will flatten some in no time, regardless if it's a soft, medium or hard leather. There's not a lot of leather at that dome and the shape of a newly shaped tip is just a starting point for the eventual shape that the tip will take while playing.
If you keep shaping the tip to keep it the shape of a dime, it will wear out in no time.
If you keep shaping the tip to keep it the shape of a dime, it will wear out in no time.
Thank you for your input.
Now that's what I'm talkin' about. I may have to try one soon. Thanks for your help.
For much of the past year, i had been thinking to try something other Kamui soft. But as much as i pound on it, it refuses to die. It holds its shape well and doesn't need scuffing. I think I've pounded it to at least a medium by now. I do shape it every two to three weeks with a dime radius Willard. The reshaping is minimal, serving more to scuff the surface. It doesn't mushroom, and the side holds a deep, dark, hard shine burnish.
So why change? I don't know. I've heard so much negative about it that i thought i would try something else and see. I hate it that it's overpriced and price controlled. But wth. It works and continues to work. 30+ hours of harsh pounding between scuffs, including break speed stroke - ironing sessions, makes it a winner.
Ironically, i had been thinking of trying an everest next. I think i just convinced myself that the Kamui is working well enough to keep.
So why change? I don't know. I've heard so much negative about it that i thought i would try something else and see. I hate it that it's overpriced and price controlled. But wth. It works and continues to work. 30+ hours of harsh pounding between scuffs, including break speed stroke - ironing sessions, makes it a winner.
Ironically, i had been thinking of trying an everest next. I think i just convinced myself that the Kamui is working well enough to keep.
Kamui uses the best pigskin available. Their gluing process is second to none too imo.
Stick with them.
I am using the same Talisman hard tip I put on the cue about 18 months ago. It has been shaped 3 times over that period of time. I play league 3 times a week, and practice daily.
If you have to shape the tipe every time you play, you are not using the proper tip hardness.
I like Sniper....gonna have to try Onyx...I understand it's a step up from Sniper...
...and I'm happy with Sniper.
As for shaping, I usually don't need it....it's the way I chalk...
...I keep wearing off the edge...you don't need chalk on the middle of the tip.
I'm still using tips that Dennis Kepley installed in the mid 90s. Just need a light scuffing once in a while. Too bad Dennis quit making cues. Such a talent.
Thanks for the input. I also chalk on the sides and only the residual hits the middle.
as PT 109 points out, if you chalk properly, you never need to reshape your tip. NEVER.
i rotated between Moori soft & medium and Everest Mediums for a while, and now use Searing Precision Medium. i have a Willard dime tool and haven't used it in 5 years, playing 3 hours a day.
if you chalk like Mike Dechaine, you'll need a tip tool. if you chalk on the sides -- which is the only place that needs chalk -- you don't need any of that junk.
you'll also have less skids.
i rotated between Moori soft & medium and Everest Mediums for a while, and now use Searing Precision Medium. i have a Willard dime tool and haven't used it in 5 years, playing 3 hours a day.
if you chalk like Mike Dechaine, you'll need a tip tool. if you chalk on the sides -- which is the only place that needs chalk -- you don't need any of that junk.
you'll also have less skids.
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The only tips I have seen go out of shape in one night are super cheap junk you find on $10 WalMart cues. Some of those feel like they are putty not leather.
Is the tip actually going out of shape or mushrooming? If mushrooming, it may not have been cut or burnished properly when it was put on. If the tip shape is actually changing, that is something wrong with the tip.
Is the tip actually going out of shape or mushrooming? If mushrooming, it may not have been cut or burnished properly when it was put on. If the tip shape is actually changing, that is something wrong with the tip.
I’m guessing you haven’t seen many tips, then.
Ultraskin Medium is tuff to beat especially for the $$. The one's i've used have maintained their shape forever it seems like. For $3/tip how can you lose?
Probably not crappy ones.
Good point.
Yep. Moori S tips were crappy. Mushroomed within 30 minutes of playing.
Le Pro tips will mushroom in the first hour. An unpressed Triangle will as well. Elkmasters will mushroom when you first play them. I can go on and on. All are “good tips”.
Just because a laminated tip won’t mushroom, doesn’t make it a quality tip. Hercules 23 layer tips wouldn’t mushroom. They sucked.
Yes, it's normal for the Everest after a while. To be fair, it's not a good tip (I've had it on three cues). It also gets quite hard after 3 months (weekly playing) and I didn't like the feel too much anymore.
If you like to stick with Tiger and have the money consider a Tiger Sniper (about same hardness as the Everest, grey'ish in color) or the Tiger Onyx (a bit softer and black). They hold the shape better and do also have better grip. They're around 20$.
If you like to try things out, start with a Ultraskins Medium, maybe a soft. They're around 6$ or so, so much more value for money. They do play similar to an Onyx and also shape similarly. You can get a good offer from an AZB member here.
I've changed to Ultraskins.
Please have the tip installed by a real expert with a lathe. Then it will just be nice.
Cheers and good luck - and age doesn't mean a thing!
M
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Truth. I play with hard pressed milk duds (single layer), and they hold their general shape for a long time. But that fresh, perfectly round dome that I get right off the shaper is gone after a day. Turns out that it really isn't a big deal—it'll play perfectly fine as long as the edges are well-rounded and hold chalk.
Due to the curvature of the balls, a dime shape doesn't get you any more spin unless your tip diameter is under like 10mm, which is not really appropriate for pool (nor is needing so much extra spin tbh). Knowing this, there's no reason to waste time and leather grinding it down to a dime. Source (also cited by Dr. Dave here).
Don't believe the poolroom voodoo about nickel vs. dime. A dime cannot physically help you get more spin with a 12-13mm tip. Psychologically it can make a difference, but simply accepting the data is probably better for a sound mental game than buying into superstitions.