Problem installing Ki-Tech tip

DanO said:
AKA Pro Ice Fisherman is correct but I'm not actually live cutting by definition. Don't know a lot of definition, just what works for me.

I lightly chuck the shaft with paper in my front jaw and torque down on the shaft with silicon rubber inside the back jaw. This way no dents. I'm using a 60º live center in my front tailstock with a small brass button that has a matching 60º point in front of it. With the shaft held tight, I come in hard with the tailstock putting pressure on the tip. The brass tool spins with the lathe allowing me to keep pressure on the tip while cutting it. No pressure on the glue joint that way. I recut the front end of a tip to eliminate the wobble if it's pre shaped, or to start the radius if it's a layered. Doesn't matter if it's layered or not. I do this on all my installs. The wobble on pre shaped tips is magnified when you install it if I don't do this. I finish with a razor to flush. Don't want to touch the ferrule with my cutter. Then shape.

Might be kinda overkill but this works for me.
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I love this idea. Makes perfect sense. I have a concave live center that I basically just use to center the tip and wipe away the excess glue. But I have to take this away once its dry to cut the sides of the tip. Supporting the tip as you describe is a very smart thing to do.

A Harbor Freight store just opened up the street for me. I needed some fresh tools anyway, maybe I'll grab one of those live centers like you have.

Thanks for the tip, so to speak lol!

KMRUNOUT
 
Just stick with it. The mediums need to be cut down about halfway to play properly.

The top layer is way hard.

But they're worth it once you get it right. Best tips out there hands down bar none.
 
Can any one post a picture of a Ki-Tech tip installed?

I'd like to see the side and top of the tip :)
 
I've only seen one of these tips in person,a medium. This is my experience with it.

A couple weeks ago I did my yearly 8-ball tournament in Paris,Tn. My first customer of the day comes up and wanted a tip put on,the medium is what he had.

I used a fresh out of the package bottle of Loctite Pro and glued it on,no problems there. I noticed this tip was VERY thick and would probably need to be thinned down some.

I never got that far. I took a couple .010 passes with my recently sharpened carbide cutter in the toolpost.

I pulled out a brand-new Lenox Gold utility blade and started to cut the side flush. I didn't get halfway thru the sidewalls and POOF,next thing I know the tip was almost 5/8 tall,and so soft I pushed the tip sideways enough to watch it change shape.

I went ahead and used a sharp parting tool and cut about half the height down and tried again to finish the sidewalls down.

No dice,it fluffed up visibly yet again,so I informed the customer that the tip was bad to begin with,and wound up installing an Ultraskin because he didn't have another Ki-Tech on hand.

I am not saying this is a totally bunk product,or try and bash Renfro who provides these tips.

What I am saying is that in my very limited experience with them,that the failure rate is 100%. Hopefully,that is just an isolated incident. Tommy D.
 
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