Milk Duds redux - baked this time

[chilli66]

Hey Flex, ever had an Elkmaster compress too much? I only ask as the one I've just done came out of the clamp only slightly thicker than a quarter! I think it's too thin to use, by the time it's shaped there'd barely be any tip left at the edge. My wife suggested resoaking it, I may do that just to see what happens.

 

[Varney Cues]

Sounds very interesting Mr. Varney. My 8 ball league considers an 8 on the break as a win, so I'm looking to replace my phenolic with a leather tip for a little more 'grip' on the CB when attempting a 2nd ball break. How long do you need to soak a Triangle? Considering your rep here, I know any info that comes from you is reliable. Thanks for the help.
Bill

Pick a Triangle with the smoothest possible back, then sand lightly as normal before an install. Soak the Triangle in Mineral Spirits for at least a couple of days. An airtight jar or Tupperware will keep the fumes down. Then press in a vise...I beat the handle around with a hammer getting it about as tight as possible...the tip will be about 1/4 of what it was originally. Now the trick...install the same as a Sniper. I detailed step by step not too long ago so search in the main section of this forum for Sniper Install. Key is to cut it with an ultra sharp razor with the sides slightly wet. You don't want to trim it with dull tooling or it will negate the pressed effect by stressing the leather. After trimming and shaping you can coat the sides and crown real well with thin CA allowing it to soak in as much as possible...scuff the crown lastly so it'll hold a bit of chalk. Polish out as normal. If you follow these steps then you'll have a leather tip damn near as hard as phenolic.

 

[billyjack]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I'll have one sanded and soaking later today.
Bill

 

[Handsumm]

In other threads about Milk Duds, someone has mentioned that there is a chemical (protein?) in milk that acts like a glue to hold the fibers of the tip together when soaked, pressed, and dried.

Casein I believe

 

[Flex]

Hey Flex, ever had an Elkmaster compress too much? I only ask as the one I've just done came out of the clamp only slightly thicker than a quarter! I think it's too thin to use, by the time it's shaped there'd barely be any tip left at the edge. My wife suggested resoaking it, I may do that just to see what happens.

Hasn't happened to me, must be one super tight clamp. Resoaking it should allow you to recompress it to.

To avoid too thin tips, I now order the 14mm tip, as it is taller and after compression there's more tip there for shaping and so on.

Good luck!

Flex