rotten lepro tips
- Thread starter BHQ
- Start date
pdcue said:
Not really anything definate Dale. There use to be a few things like others mentioned that seemed to help Me, but eventually nothing that told me for sure until I am cutting them, and can see how solid they are. Sometimes the coloring on the bottom when sanding flat, but even that's not a sure thing. I use to look at the sides for porus or cracking in the leather, or the smoother tips sometimes turned out to be good, but in the last 2 years that all went out the window for me, and nothing seems to be a sure thing. Originally I got them in 13mm, and had better luck, but the last couple of years I was buying boxes in both 14mm and 15mm. I can say that the odds are better in the 14mm of getting a decent one, but even they have their share of bad apples. I am refferring to the cherries in the box here, even though others may still be usable, and some are not.
I believe some here made reference to the trimming of the tips, and I have found that they can be made to be worse, if causing seperation of the leather's fibres during trimming. Not a good idea to run a tool both ways or anything like that IMO. Also taking too much off in a pass seems as If it can make them worse too. I have heard that some prefer to sand them in to where they can trim with the razor, so that they never put a cutting tool to them. There are some really good players that still use lepros, and what they expect are what use to be the norm many years ago. Atleast for me those are alittle harder to find these days, and you must keep a few boxes going at all times to make sure you have those guys covered. I do alot of house cues too, and not as picky on those, but often I'll put one on and think "darn that was a cherry tip right there, wonder how many are left"
I guess I have no sure way to know ahead of time, can only try to increase the odds by what I see, or every once in a while cut a bad one off and start over til I get a good one. How bout You, got any tricks I should know about.
Greg
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Try measuring the hight of the tip. It seems to me, that the TALLEST tips in the box are the hardest...JER
How are you cutting the side of the tip down? With the lathe tool? If you cut the burnishing from the factory off of any tip it will become spongy. The tip actually swells up. If you put pressur on the tip towards the ferrule and cut with tool razor whatever and re burnish under pressure this will solve most of the 25 bad tips per box. Or use a 13mm on a 13 and find the right size in the box and only trim a little. I have found if you try to put a 14 on a 12.5 it does this. you just cut too much off. Layered tips are a different animal all together.dave sutton said:
Cuemakers?
Guys -
I have heard this for years, and I get cues with Lepros on them occasionally in trades, etc. (I get Moori-S when I specify).
Anybody ever thing about returning them? Or is it more trouble than its worth.
In this day of "customer service" I wonder what the feedback from the manufacture would be.
Just a thought,
Ken
Guys -
I have heard this for years, and I get cues with Lepros on them occasionally in trades, etc. (I get Moori-S when I specify).
Anybody ever thing about returning them? Or is it more trouble than its worth.
In this day of "customer service" I wonder what the feedback from the manufacture would be.
Just a thought,
Ken
RocketQ said:
I think you hit the nail on the head there, using the closest size for the job does help, because you don't have to get as deep into the leather. That's probably why the 15mm are mostly useless to Me. how many jobs over 14mm come along? A few But not many for Me, and even those are closer to 14mm then 15mm.
i just spoke with john at atlasCue Crazy said:
they are aware of the problem
he says he doesn't get any response from tweeten about this
correct me if i'm wrong, but shouldn't the leather be the same consistancy thought the tip??????
not just the outer few millimeters??????
correct me if i'm wrong, but shouldn't the leather be the same consistancy thought the tip??????
Nope.. The outter part of the tip along with the back is burnished or sealed. It is a process to keep the tip from drying out. It is similar to impregnated wood. I have used the burnishing liquid that atlas sells for years to put the coating back on the tip. Couple coats let it dry and polish.
Nope.. The outter part of the tip along with the back is burnished or sealed. It is a process to keep the tip from drying out. It is similar to impregnated wood. I have used the burnishing liquid that atlas sells for years to put the coating back on the tip. Couple coats let it dry and polish.
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BHQ said:
That would be nice, and sometimes with the smaller diameter that is the case, although not always.
The way they are trimmed & dressed can have some effect similar to this too as has been mentioned, but I have had some as bad as what Your talking about, and yes I believe those to be bad. It's like the fibres of the leather are just too porus. the centers are just mushy to begin with, and even pressing does no good. I have to cut them off, and toss them, but they are usually the 15mm. I don't have as many do that in the 14mm, although occasionally I still do run into them. Just not as much, and not any where near a full box yet.
Some of the thoughts and ideas in this thread made me think of a post macguy made once. I thought it has a little relevance.
Post number 6:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=54128&highlight=pressed+leather
Post number 6:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=54128&highlight=pressed+leather
This isn't a new problem with LePro's. I called Tweeten Fibre in 1995 complaining about their lack of quality control. They passed me from one person to another until I was disconnected. In 96 or 97, Tweeten had a small booth set up at the BCA Trade Show in Minn/St Paul. The president of Tweeten was in the booth and I asked him the same question and all he did was throw his hands into the air and say " What do you expect, they're a cheap tip." Although there are a disproportional number of bad ones in every box, some boxes are almost all bad. More than once after opening a new box and trying four or five I just throw the whole box away. My time is more valuable to me than than the price of another box of tips.
Dick
Dick
It never ceases to amaze me how much this subject is discussed. Can anyone explain to me why it is that you even offer LePro tips? I have recently stopped offering them and I will be taking them off my price list until they improve them.
I would rather pay more for the box of IMPROVED LePro tips, and put a tip on ONCE, instead of having to cut it off and do a particular job three or four times. Since those Improved LePro's don't exist, I simply recommend other tips of similar or better "hit".
Gene
I would rather pay more for the box of IMPROVED LePro tips, and put a tip on ONCE, instead of having to cut it off and do a particular job three or four times. Since those Improved LePro's don't exist, I simply recommend other tips of similar or better "hit".
Gene
You get what you pay for. You can either learn to grade them, or just avoid using them. (And most other single-layer tips) Personally, I don't feel it's worth complaining about.
I have too many customers that want the cheap tips, so I continue to offer them as an option.
I have too many customers that want the cheap tips, so I continue to offer them as an option.
personally, i've been satisfied with lepros, all my own cue have lepros on themCuedog said:
and i could deal with the 5 or 10 crappy ones out of 50
but just recently, for me anyways, it's 50% or worse
yeah, they are cheap, but i would rather pay $36 for a box of 50 good tips than $18 each for two boxes with half of them shitty tips
john from atlas suggested some new tips to me coming out of china,
i think he said SAGA, is the brand
he's sending me some freebees to try out
makes me sick to think that an AMERICAN owned company like TWEETEN might get thier ass kicked by a chinese company
the quality control in this country has gone to shit
in EVERYTHING
they do not care, PERIOD
If the count was an average of 5-10 bad tips out of 50, I could live with that considering the price. But, my average is closer to 30% of the tips are bad. I just refuse to continue to jump through hoops to figure out which ones are good.BHQ said:personally, i've been satisfied with lepros, all my own cue have lepros on them
and i could deal with the 5 or 10 crappy ones out of 50
but just recently, for me anyways, it's 50% or worse
yeah, they are cheap, but i would rather pay $36 for a box of 50 good tips than $18 each for two boxes with half of them shitty tips
john from atlas suggested some new tips to me coming out of china,
i think he said SAGA, is the brand
he's sending me some freebees to try out
makes me sick to think that an AMERICAN owned company like TWEETEN might get thier ass kicked by a chinese company
the quality control in this country has gone to shit
in EVERYTHING
they do not care, PERIOD
I care about my reputation. My customers don't want to hear about Tweeten's short comings. They expect me to suggest and provide a tip that matches or heightens their game.
Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with a "good" LePro when you find one. But, there's nothing special about it. Why waste the time and effort? Why bet your reputation on a LePro?
Gene
Lately I have had this problem with alot of triangle tips also. Some are so spongy you can stretch them with your fingers. When you press them they flatten to the size of a nickle with very little pressure. Hopefully I just got a box of rejects since the triangles have been very good in the past.
What's new.
Well, I guess It's clear enough, and most could aggree that there could be better quality accross the run in a box of them. I still find those really good ones every once in a while (maybe 10 in a box If I'm really lucky, with a few being choice), but for sure there are only so many in a box, and each box is a different yeild. It's no secret these days, even alot of players are aware of this stuff too, and specifically want the cherry tips.
I can understand why Dick would toss a box so quickly without looking farther into it. They can be a PITA to deal with, especially for such a cheap tip job. Not much money in a lepro tip job, to have to hassle with them the way We do sometimes.
If they Could make all of the tips in a box like the cherry picks, then I may would pay 2-3 times the price per box just to elimate the guess work and hassle. I aggree Not worth the time spent sometimes as it is now, and would be worth the extra cost. They could call them Gold Class, Gold Label, whatever, but I know atleast I would buy them. Some can Be talked into different tips and end up liking them better, but there are some people that are just not going to switch over to another tip, and more consistent boxes would make things alot easier.
I can understand why Dick would toss a box so quickly without looking farther into it. They can be a PITA to deal with, especially for such a cheap tip job. Not much money in a lepro tip job, to have to hassle with them the way We do sometimes.
If they Could make all of the tips in a box like the cherry picks, then I may would pay 2-3 times the price per box just to elimate the guess work and hassle. I aggree Not worth the time spent sometimes as it is now, and would be worth the extra cost. They could call them Gold Class, Gold Label, whatever, but I know atleast I would buy them. Some can Be talked into different tips and end up liking them better, but there are some people that are just not going to switch over to another tip, and more consistent boxes would make things alot easier.
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