pressing lepro tips

kiinstructor

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Ive been using triangle tips for many years and have liked them but after awile they begin to get real hard and as a result a few miscues. Anyway I have a box of lepros and put one on. like the grip and holding chalk but hit a a bit punky compaired to even a fresh triangle. I would like to soak the tips and press them and see if they would play better. What Im looking for is a crisp hit but hold chalk. Anyway what can I soak them in and how long. Thanks for any advise
 

scdiveteam

Rick Geschrey
Silver Member
Hi,

As you play with a med or soft tip they will get harder over time because the more you hit with them they tend to compress. After a while they reach what is called "compression refusal" which is a state where it reaches a hardness equilibrium. When that happens the only way to get that original med feel is to put on a new tip.

Pressing them before installation brings you closer the refusal from the get go. When players asks me for a soft EM, I inform them that to maintain that soft touch they will have to do a tip change out more often.

Those who prefer hard tips like a brown WB or Moori Q have the most consistent feel from the get go because when they replace the tip it is very close in hardness to the old tip they just replaced.

Jmo,

Rick
 
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danutz

Banned
There's no need to soak them, just put them in a vise for a few days. Some use pressed Le pros' for break tips, they get that hard when pressed. Only people with a stroke will like playing with them. I find for most people, cutting unpressed one's almost in half before shaping, does the trick you're looking for.
 

Vahmurka

...and I get all da rolls
Silver Member
why wouldn't you consider soaking a Triangle first? Make a so-called milk dud, or whatever dud you like. I tried soaking Triangles, Elk Masters, Blue Knight after all, but never Le Pro. Probably due to the rumor Le Pros are now made of leather junk instead of full leather piece? I don't quite believe it though I admit Le Pro's quality is far from Triangle. I install Le Pros on house cues and see how bad they mushroom. Looking at some of them, torn in half and apart, it is easy to believe in junk story though.

P.S. Once soaked, it is possible to make a dud of preferred hardness, from soft to hard.
 

measureman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have a Le Pro on my cue. It hit kind of soft. So I took the shaft tip down and bounced it firmly down on a concrete floor 5 times from about a foot from the floor. The tip compressed almost flat and I had to reshape it. I will play with it tonight and see if it got harder. You might not want to do this if you have an ivory ferrule.
 

measureman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have a Le Pro on my cue. It hit kind of soft. So I took the shaft tip down and bounced it firmly down on a concrete floor 5 times from about a foot from the floor. The tip compressed almost flat and I had to reshape it. I will play with it tonight and see if it got harder. You might not want to do this if you have an ivory ferrule.

The tip still sucks. I'm going back to a layered tip.
 

cueman

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Press the LePro in a flat jawed vise for a few seconds before putting it on.
You will know how it plays right away and will only mushroom a little more. LePro tips are notorious for slicking over on the surface and giving miscues. That is why the tip tapper and porcupine tip pick type of tools were invented. They perforate the tips surface without removing leather. That way they hold chalk without wearing the tip down real fast. If you use one regularly on a LePro they play pretty good. If you don't want to have to mess with your tip then the Triangle or Sniper might be a better choice. Triangles need to be pressed before installing also but Snipers don't.
 
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Sonny1918

Registered
Tip Type

I've read these posts with great interest, as I have purchased a very inexpensive cue from e-bay and not very happy with the tip. Having just returned to the game after not playing a serious game in 22 years I did not want to invest in a good cue (I have had a Meucci and an Adams)till I know I am back for the long haul and have found so much that has changed and so many more products and makers.
So my question is two fold, first what tip would you recommend for me now-- (I have just come into an APA league and moved up after my first week) second my long term thought is to use this cue as a break stick, possibly changing the shaft as well.
So what whould you recommend in that case.
 

cuesblues

cue accumulator
Silver Member
I have a Le Pro on my cue. It hit kind of soft. So I took the shaft tip down and bounced it firmly down on a concrete floor 5 times from about a foot from the floor. The tip compressed almost flat and I had to reshape it. I will play with it tonight and see if it got harder. You might not want to do this if you have an ivory ferrule.


Bring it over and we will install a real tip on that McFadden for you.
You can even do it yourself Mr. I Used To Replace 9 Tips In An Hour...:)
I'll give you the tip, unless you want a Tiger Onyx which will cost you about 20-bucks.
 

measureman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Bring it over and we will install a real tip on that McFadden for you.
You can even do it yourself Mr. I Used To Replace 9 Tips In An Hour...:)
I'll give you the tip, unless you want a Tiger Onyx which will cost you about 20-bucks.

I used to do 9 tips in an hour with a huge metal lathe and super glue gel.
$20 for a tip !:eek:
 

pooldawg8

My Pride and Joy
Gold Member
Silver Member
I used to do 9 tips in an hour with a huge metal lathe and super glue gel.
$20 for a tip !:eek:

Maybe & I do mean maybe, Ted will throw in some JP`s & a famous bottle of water. Or maybe he just wants you to come over and shovel snow for him.
 

measureman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Maybe & I do mean maybe, Ted will throw in some JP`s & a famous bottle of water. Or maybe he just wants you to come over and shovel snow for him.

Shovel snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We got about 15 or so inches right now! It's 9:30 PM and it's supposed to snow until mid day tomorrow.
 

measureman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I had the Le Pro replaced with a Wizard tip today by Dr. Tipman also known as Doug.I have not played with it yet.
 

Lexicologist71

Rabid Schuler fanatic
Silver Member
Shovel snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We got about 15 or so inches right now! It's 9:30 PM and it's supposed to snow until mid day tomorrow.

Here in Tennessee, it's been in the mid to upper 50s for a couple of weeks. We saw 62 a couple of days ago. After growing up in Ohio and living in Chicago and New England, I love winters here.
 

cueman

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Here in Tennessee, it's been in the mid to upper 50s for a couple of weeks. We saw 62 a couple of days ago. After growing up in Ohio and living in Chicago and New England, I love winters here.
We are almost 70 today in Georgia. I sure don't miss the nine years of Missouri winters I had. It is nice to be back in GA during the winter.
 

measureman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I had the Le Pro replaced with a Wizard tip today by Dr. Tipman also known as Doug.I have not played with it yet.

The Wizard can give the Le Pro the break,ball in hand and the 1 out and still win.
Vast improvement.
I can draw the length of the table with a lot less effort with this tip.
 

opiesbro

Big Al Customs
Silver Member
Pressing laminated tips

So I understand why it is important to press a single layered tip from this thread. Is it necessary to press laminated tips before installing? Or is that one of the advantages to a laminated tip?
 

riedmich

.. dogs' friend ..
Silver Member
So I understand why it is important to press a single layered tip from this thread. Is it necessary to press laminated tips before installing? Or is that one of the advantages to a laminated tip?

The most layered tips I installed are far more constistent from the first hit on like single layered. From my personal experience I would compare the tiger emerald partly to an average / good lepro. The emeralds very often have more mushrooming than other multilayerd tips, and they hold their shape not so well. So I know that the emeralds should be pressed, but only pressed, without soaking them.

After pressing an emerald or compressing it well after glueing, it behaves like most other multi layered tip: much less change in hardness than single layered and few or no mushrooming. But also at most multilayered tips you con see the same effect principally like scdiveteam desribed it (very good desription!) in the 2nd post of this thread. But the range of hardness' change is much smaller.

And if you choose a very high quality multi layered tip like the kamuis or some other brands, you have nearly no change in the tip's behavior from start to end.

But this is only my limited experience because there are some multilayered tips that I haven't installed or played yet.
 
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