Re-Tip Yourself or Send Out? Tip Recommendations?

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Eric M.

Member
I have 2 cues that came with my table that are in pretty good shape but need tips. (L A Cues if anyone has ever heard of that brand). I'd like to set them up so guest can use them. I have looked into replacing the tips myself but am concerned the ends may no longer be square to the cue considering it's age and past repairs .... or that while prepping the end, I may sand a bit at an angle. I did buy one of the tools for prepping the end but don't really feel like it's that accurate either. I'm thinking a square end is pretty important! It doesn't look overly expensive to send out to someone like David Schmelke or Seyberts and I'm assuming they would use a cue lathe and re-square the end of the cue.

How many of you do your own tips (without a lathe)? Who sends out and who do you use?

Second question. I have a new Schmelke cue with their soft tip. If I'm going to re-tip 2 cues, I'd like to do them with different tips so I can experiment with them myself. Maybe a medium and a hard tip? I realize this might seem like a waste for a cue for guest but considering I can experiment with them, it might be a good way to learn how other tips feel. Any recommendations? Seyberts has about 40 to choose from, Pool Dawg has 90 and Schmelke has 10.


Thanks,

Eric M.
 
Eric M. said:
... How many of you do your own tips (without a lathe)? Who sends out and who do you use? ... Eric M.
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I have done tips without a lathe since about 1966 when I played at a rec room that had no tips on most of the cues. I volunteered to do them and got a lot of free practice. If I'm at a tournament I may use the cue repair guy's service, since the lathe is right there and I can watch (which I find entertaining).

Here is a video that is more or less how I do tips. It takes about $10 in supplies if you don't already have sandpaper and super glue gel. Get some Triangle or Le Pro tips. Don't be surprised if one fails -- that's part of learning retipping.

 
Eric M. said:
... Second question. I have a new Schmelke cue with their soft tip. If I'm going to re-tip 2 cues, I'd like to do them with different tips so I can experiment with them myself. Maybe a medium and a hard tip? I realize this might seem like a waste for a cue for guest but considering I can experiment with them, it might be a good way to learn how other tips feel. Any recommendations? ...
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A cue maker friend of mine used a durometer (hardness tester) on tips. He found that the name on the tip box was only weakly connected to how hard the tip is. He sorted his own.

I suppose an additional complication is that tips tend to get harder as you play with them. Since you are experimenting, I suggest you get some cheap tips, such as Triangle, Le Pro, Elk Master, etc. No more than a dollar per tip.
 
While I've done tips myself for years (mostly out of impatience and not wanting to wait for turnaround times), they never turn out as well when someone with a lathe does it. I'm sure there's guys that get them pretty close to lathe quality retips though. Plus you can have the repair guy recondition and clean up the shaft at the same time for a few extra bucks usually.

I don't like very hard tips, especially after they break in. But tip hardness is a lot of preference, just remember the tip will slightly change as its played with over time. A soft tip won't turn into a hard tip, mind you, but it will get harder as you play with it. I prefer a nice medium or medium-hard tip, and actually find I like a non-layered tip for whatever reason. LePros serve me just fine, but I like the Tiger Sniper tip if you'd ask for a layered tip recommendation.
 
Bob Jewett said:
Don't be surprised if one fails -- that's part of learning retipping.
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That's good to hear! The other part of the story I didn't want to bore everyone with is I've retipped both cue's twice now and one just lost the tip again. Looking closer at that one, I see the top is uneven and there is a crack in the ferrule. That one has to go in for repairs anyways and since shipping is half the cost of something like this, I thought I'd just do them both and be done with it. I'll check out the ones you mentioned, Triangle, Le Pro and Elk Master.

Thanks,

Eric M.
 
where are you located? Odds are sombody here might know of a good cue repair guy who is located near you.
 
Eric M. said:
That's good to hear! The other part of the story I didn't want to bore everyone with is I've retipped both cue's twice now and one just lost the tip again. Looking closer at that one, I see the top is uneven and there is a crack in the ferrule. That one has to go in for repairs anyways and since shipping is half the cost of something like this, I thought I'd just do them both and be done with it. I'll check out the ones you mentioned, Triangle, Le Pro and Elk Master.

Thanks,

Eric M.
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Most of the devil is in the prep. 😉
 
Bob Jewett said:
A cue maker friend of mine used a durometer (hardness tester) on tips. He found that the name on the tip box was only weakly connected to how hard the tip is. He sorted his own.

I suppose an additional complication is that tips tend to get harder as you play with them. Since you are experimenting, I suggest you get some cheap tips, such as Triangle, Le Pro, Elk Master, etc. No more than a dollar per tip.
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or search for UltraSkin tips. They are also rather cheap, but come in a huge variety of hardness.

You can prefer a certain softness, but the tip alone is not making the balls. It's a rabbit hole :-) It happened to me more than once, that I played a whole match of straight pool and only realized after that, that I used a different shaft with a harder tip than I thought I did.
 
If you know how to do the tip then you do it. I remember starting to do it couple of months ago and I sucked bad. I even posted results here on the forums but since then I became gradually better with each tip. Yesterday I put a new tip and it looks real good now. All you need are 4 things.

Good razor
White tape
Different grit sand papers
Superglue

Or course the new tip. Also watch the dr Dave video it also helped me to learn it all.

One thing to note though that I figure out by trial and error. At first I was trying with cheap tips to learn which is what I recommend to do as well. But these cheap tips are so bad that it’s hard to make them look good if you know what I mean so this could give you discouragement because you will think that you did a very bad job when in fact it’s the bad tip. At first I didn’t know that and I thought I’m bad at it and if I used expensive tip I’ll ruin it too. Turned out if you use the expensive tips the installation is much easier and nicer finish.

But even thought at first practice with cheap 1 dollar tips until you get the hang of it
 
I've tried doing it myself in the past but my work always seems a bit shoddy compared to whenever I send it out. Whenever I get to the sanding step it always turns out a bit wonky.

For tips, I personally like zan and kamui clears for pricier "premium" options and triangle for a cheaper option.
 
I've been following the Dr. Dave video for the tip replacement (and other things, he's got a lot of good info out). I'm just not sure how much time I want to spend getting good at tip replacement at this point and it seems like others are having the same concern. I'm hoping someone might know of a local shop, I just want to avoid someone doing the same thing I am, I'd really like a lathe to be used on one of the cues to re-square it and the other needs a new ferrule so will definitely need a lathe.
 
I have always done my own. I get it that some people just don't have the time to do their own life being what it is and all. I just have some of the inexpensive tools you can get for doing it. I am never in a big hurry to get it done and I don't want to get it done just to get it out of the way. Take your time and it will come out okay. It does take patience.
 
I did find a place local. $15 labor to replace a tip or a tip and ferrule. Ferrule is $10 and tip is whatever I choose. They use a lathe.
What they offer in tips:

Kamui Brown S, M, H $27
Kamui Black S, M, H $30
Le Pro H $3
Elk Master S $3 (I don't think I want another soft tip so this is out)
Everest M $25

I'm going to save about $30 in shipping now so don't mind getting one of the more expensive tips. OR, I could buy elsewhere and bring that tip in (Gotta figure the shipping on that though).

Thoughts?


Thanks,

Eric M.
 
I'd suggest going Lepro or Elkmaster for your "house cue" tips. For your own playing cue? Kamui black or brown in medium is a good starting point on your personal tip journey. The local guy's price seems to be on a par with most...
 
OP.....Always use a new razor blade each install.
Shaft vertical, tip on a hard surface.
Take your time, have a good light....only trim with downward razor cuts.

You'll have to retrim it after tip break in.
 
Eric M. said:
That's good to hear! The other part of the story I didn't want to bore everyone with is I've retipped both cue's twice now and one just lost the tip again. Looking closer at that one, I see the top is uneven and there is a crack in the ferrule. That one has to go in for repairs anyways and since shipping is half the cost of something like this, I thought I'd just do them both and be done with it. I'll check out the ones you mentioned, Triangle, Le Pro and Elk Master.

Thanks,

Eric M.
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replacing a tip on a cracked ferrule is a waste,,,,,,,, of everything
 
My first inclination is always to learn how to do it myself. I had all the stuff in my cart, ready to buy. Mini-lathe, tools, everything. Then I thought, do I really need another expensive hobby that I'll get to practice at best once a year? Taking up more space next to the ammo reloading gear, the knife-sharpening gear, the tire changer, the scuba regulator rebuild station?

Paying somebody to change the tips is way cheaper and the replacements will be higher quality.
 
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