Made my own break tip from scratch and also did my first tip replacement with it

cjweaver13

cjweaver13

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I have been wanting a break cue for awhile since I usually just grab a house cue off the rack to break with. I had an older Players cue with a worn out tip and started looking online for break tips since I planned on doing it myself with a brand name tip. After seeing a number of G10 tips show up I thought to myself "hey, I have a scrap piece of G10 out in the garage from a scrapped knife handle I made" and decided to play the game on hard mode.

I rough cut a piece of the G10 and scribed it oversize and cut on the porta-band saw, then cut off old leather tip and prepped both surfaces and glued on the G10 piece (wouldn't exactly call it a tip at this stage). Trying Gorilla Glue CA Gel since it has good reviews with harder tips

After letting the glue dry for a few hours to be safe, I took it out to the 2x72 belt grinder, taped off the ferrule, and just started to shape the sides in. Once the masking tape started showing some abrasive marks, I stopped on the belt grinder and started to work it in by hand with sandpaper and went from 80 grit and finished at 1000 grit wet sanded finish on the sides and ferrule to try and clean it up.

After that, I cut a piece of 3/4" schedule 40 pvc pipe in half so I could make a long sanding jig since the G10 burns through abrasive and didn't want to ruin my Willard "good shaping tool". The 3/4 is somewhere between a penny and nickel radius and a bit much for a break tip, so used it to shape all but the last 1mm center of the tip and basically used my palm to blend it in. So it still might need to be flattened out a bit once I play with it, but is sort of like a quarter on the top and progresses to about a nickel on the side.

I love the layered colors of the tip, and didn't even realize it until I came in from the garage it coordinates with the blue cue I plan on using with it so bonus points there.

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cjweaver13 said:
I have been wanting a break cue for awhile since I usually just grab a house cue off the rack to break with. I had an older Players cue with a worn out tip and started looking online for break tips since I planned on doing it myself with a brand name tip. After seeing a number of G10 tips show up I thought to myself "hey, I have a scrap piece of G10 out in the garage from a scrapped knife handle I made" and decided to play the game on hard mode.

I rough cut a piece of the G10 and scribed it oversize and cut on the porta-band saw, then cut off old leather tip and prepped both surfaces and glued on the G10 piece (wouldn't exactly call it a tip at this stage). Trying Gorilla Glue CA Gel since it has good reviews with harder tips

After letting the glue dry for a few hours to be safe, I took it out to the 2x72 belt grinder, taped off the ferrule, and just started to shape the sides in. Once the masking tape started showing some abrasive marks, I stopped on the belt grinder and started to work it in by hand with sandpaper and went from 80 grit and finished at 1000 grit wet sanded finish on the sides and ferrule to try and clean it up.

After that, I cut a piece of 3/4" schedule 40 pvc pipe in half so I could make a long sanding jig since the G10 burns through abrasive and didn't want to ruin my Willard "good shaping tool". The 3/4 is somewhere between a penny and nickel radius and a bit much for a break tip, so used it to shape all but the last 1mm center of the tip and basically used my palm to blend it in. So it still might need to be flattened out a bit once I play with it, but is sort of like a quarter on the top and progresses to about a nickel on the side.

I love the layered colors of the tip, and didn't even realize it until I came in from the garage it coordinates with the blue cue I plan on using with it so bonus points there.

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Excellent!!
Been doing tips by hand forever and this is something I like to see. Innovation and creativity. This game is losing both. Glad to see someone who loves this game as much as you must.
Let us know how it plays!!!
 
Nice job. The G10 stuff looks great too.

The main thing with CA I've found is it needs the 30 seconds of clamping force. I lean into the shaft as vertically as possible to set the tip - 20, 30 lbs maybe. I then wait a few minutes to be safe before working the tip.
 
Looks cool but I find G10 to be too hard for breaking. Might even damage the CB.
With template racking with half decent maintained cloth and balls there is no need for a hard break, especially if playing 9ball with the nine on the spot. a hard leather tip will provide enough power with greater control. And definitely an overkill if you play on a barbox.
 
skor said:
Looks cool but I find G10 to be too hard for breaking. Might even damage the CB.
With template racking with half decent maintained cloth and balls there is no need for a hard break, especially if playing 9ball with the nine on the spot. a hard leather tip will provide enough power with greater control. And definitely an overkill if you play on a barbox.
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So I play mainly on Diamond 7 and 9ft tables around me with the occasional Brunswick. I also bring my own magic rack usually and definitely don't throw my entire body into the break, but maybe stand up just a hair off the push. Even then a good 30% of the time the 9 ball doesn't move so I agree with a tight rack it's a bit less important, but I also hate using my play cues for breaking and can't rely on good tips on the house cues all the time so we'll see. I also have some micarta material (currently all canvas) but might get a chunk of linen or paper micarta and experiment with materials for fun.
 
muskyed said:
Here it is, pretty close to a quarter.
Wood lathe is a no go, I have a small one and one of the biggest ones, a Robust 25" 3hp. Wood lathes just don't work.
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Hey Muskyed! What's the headstock through bore on the Robust lathe? That's my dream lathe, but it has yet to make sense for me to upgrade.
I currently have a 1/2" bore through my headstock and can use my lathe to do tips for 11.8mm and under shafts with a pro taper, nothing larger without setting up dedicated steady rest.
 
Not sure about the actual bore, but the hand wheel has a threaded hole about 5/8" where I screw my vacuum into when needed. The new lathes have just a machined hole about 3/4"-1" and the vacuum just press fits in with a machined plug that has two orings. I've had this lathe for about 12 years and it is just fantastic, Probably the best investment I have ever made. I've only had to replace one switch for $15 in that time because of dust intrusion. Probably could have cleaned it, but just put a new one on. Absolutely love that lathe, it is such a pleasure to use, everything always works and is so well designed. That's something I can't say about the Oneway 2436 lathe I had before this. What a piece of crap and horrible customer service. It was so bad I almost gave up woodturning.
I will never buy anything from, or made in Canada again. They are just impossible to deal with.
 
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