Kamui Gator Grip Review

[Roadie]

I have a Willard, one of those world war I army hat scuffers, a tip pick, sandpaper, tip tapper and yes a Kamui Gator Grip. The Kamui Gator Grip is my favorite. The "screen" is fine enough but sharp enough to put a clean extremely small dimpled pattern onto my tip which the chalk appears to hold very well. With sandpaper or other scuffers, they either have too large of teeth (putting very large holes in my not so cheap tips) or they work as a super abrasive rubbing back and forth, pushing on the glued layered tip. While I haven't had any problems with the other scuffers, I prefer the finely manicured looks that the Kamui puts on my tips. Others, at the pool hall, sometimes seek me out and ask me to scuff their tip with the Kamui Gator Grip.

I haven't tried the Wolfbite and I'm sure it works fine. I've used sandpaper, files (tip tappers) picks, knives (way back when) and scuffers like the Willard scuffer for years and I don't miscue very often. When I first started playing pool, I used to see old time players using knives to cut criss-cross, tick-tac-toe-like patterns on their tip and even tried it some myself. I put the knife away a long time ago and the tip pick (the large one) too. The large tip pick cap came off in my pocket and one day when I was searching for a coin in my tight jeans, I pulled up a bloody thumb and that was the last I saw of the large thumb-pick.

This isn't rocket science but no other scuffer provides the finely manicured surface that the Gator Grip provides. I think it removes less leather than most other scuffers and I like that as well.

If you dimple the tip then you remove no leather. Only when you abrade the leather do you remove material. Anything abrasive that is stroked across a surface with applied pressure removes material if the abrasive is harder than the surface it is working against. A scratch is the absence of material. And indentation however is molding of material. Think clay vs. stone. To make a happy face in clay you manipulate the material without removing any until it is shaped as you desire. In stone you must remove material to shape it. Thus dimpling preserves the leather and sanding removes it.

Any sandpaper with sufficient grit can be used as a dimpler. The pattern however will be much more random than if done with a machined tool. I do not think that this makes much difference but perhaps it does.

In reality the very best thing to happen to the leather tip industry was the curved sander shapers. People sanding away on their tips to shape them constantly has been a boon for the tip industry. When people get educated to the fact that a light abrasion or better still dimpling is all that is needed they will have have tips that last for years instead of months. And some give the advice to not even dimple since chalk itself is abrasive and I have found this advice works with some tips but not with all. In general I try to use chalk only and never dimple or shape the tip more than absolutely needed. The lighter the touch the better and remember to burnish.

 

[Rod]

You can buy any double cut file, less coarse is preferred. Then roll the tip across the file, it does the same thing as the Kamui tool at 1/3 of the price. The process is known as knurling and leaves a cross hatch pattern. Myself I use an old tip tapper and roll the tip across the file. I have two that many years old they will never wear out nor will a double cut file used for this purpose. It takes about 15 seconds, I keep it in my small pouch and use it maybe once a week. I play with a compressed dud that is almost two years old. Its not even close to being worn out.

I just ordered 3 duds to try from pooldawg in the for sale section. Maybe next year I try one out unless I put one on another cue. I think the message Kamui sends is very true. People really abuse their tips, not playing - with their crappy maintenance because they don't know any better.

So sand the hell out of those tips boys, your tip mfg loves you!

Rod

 

[Klopek]

0000000000

 

[spankylee]

Its really not the same. You just have to see one up close to understand it is nothing like a file or sandpaper. The pattern is much closer to the foil on an electric shaver.

i have blacks on three of my shafts and the gator is hands down the best tool i own and i own several

 

[3kushn]

I'm just guessing but I'd say the grit in the GG is either carbide or diamond. Either one will give you very long life in this application. Also either one is expensive compared to hammering a hunk of steel. By the way that's how a file is made, with specialized hammers. The grit pattern is considerably different than any product found in a Beauty Supply Store. I've actually used the GG to file back a broken finger nail and it doesn't do as good a job as a nail file, but good enough for a field emergency.

Certainly files are much cheaper than the GG and as I said have their place but there's a couple of draw backs. How do you pack one in your case? IMO short files are also too narrow for my liking. Mill files (single cut) don't do the job like the GG. Bastard cut files (Double Cut) are aggressive but are my preference if I really need to get deep then tap it down. Be careful with layered tips. What I did is took a 14" Bastard file and cut out 2" section at the widest point. That's my Tip Tapper. My real one got dull after 30 years. By the way only the Real Lou Butera Tip Tapper is worth buying. The knock offs are cut poorly IMO. Willards is good too. Sharper than the TT. By the way if you want to cut a file it can only be done with an abrasive blade. A saw won't touch it. Quality files (Simmonds, Nicholson) are very hard steel.

The Woolfbite tool I also think is a decent design but I've always wondered about using sand paper if some of the grit could be left behind buried in the tip especially if used like the TT should be used. I try to always use "Closed Coat" paper feeling it retains the grit better. It should.

My last comment is the radius of the tip. I believe that no matter what radius you put on a tip it will change according to your style of play. If you insist on a certain precision radius you'll be constantly filing the tip. $25-$50 per tip installed??

And we complain about the cost of the GG?? Hmmmm.