Rough Tip Shaper

[nksmfamjp]

I'm gonna throw this out here because I know one of you guys will have an answer. . .

Does anyone know of a good rough shaper for cutting a new tip to nickel radius quick? Most regular tip tools don't cut aggressively enough and clog when the tip is like 10% cut. I have my home made tool. It is like 60 - 100 grit, I forget, adhesive backed sandpaper inside a half of ~1" PVC pipe. There has to be a better way! This does work!

 

[Mr. Wiggles]

Tip shaper

I'm gonna throw this out here because I know one of you guys will have an answer. . .

Does anyone know of a good rough shaper for cutting a new tip to nickel radius quick? Most regular tip tools don't cut aggressively enough and clog when the tip is like 10% cut. I have my home made tool. It is like 60 - 100 grit, I forget, adhesive backed sandpaper inside a half of ~1" PVC pipe. There has to be a better way! This does work!

Porper cut rite tip shaper. Several shapers like this. Most have a curved razor blade inside. The better ones have changeable blades. Very aggressive cutting, be careful not to rip tip off. Will Reshape a square tip in about one minute!!

 

[dgem]

mezz tip tool is a good one.

 

[chefjeff]

The It's George will ruin a new tip real fast if not careful.

It has about a 14 grit surface...very sharp.

Jeff Livingston

 

[Craig Fales]

I'm gonna throw this out here because I know one of you guys will have an answer. . .

Does anyone know of a good rough shaper for cutting a new tip to nickel radius quick? Most regular tip tools don't cut aggressively enough and clog when the tip is like 10% cut. I have my home made tool. It is like 60 - 100 grit, I forget, adhesive backed sandpaper inside a half of ~1" PVC pipe. There has to be a better way! This does work!

If you don't have a lathe there probably isn't a better way.

 

[Maniac]

If you don't have a lathe there probably isn't a better way.

nksmfamjp,
I gotta agree with Craig here, the way you're doing it is as fast as you can do it. Lathes ARE good, but you said in your OP that you wanted a quick way to do it. The way you're doing it now is as quick as you can hope for.

Maniac

 

[3andstop]

Almost 45 years I tortured myself doing my tips by hand. I stumbled across that little lathe jig from Cowboy Billiards on ebay. That was the best money I spent. If you're going to spend 10 or 20 or more dollars for a shaper, you're better off with something like this.

I made an adjustable base for mine and I found an inexpensive foot pedal rheostat to adjust the speed. Works great.

edit***
I almost forgot to mention. Should you decide on something like this, I found clear plastic tubing at home depot that I cut and slide over the shaft, and place it where the rubber wheels roll against the shaft. A bit of painters tape holds it in place so it doesn't walk. Another bit of painters tape rolled around the rubber cup at the other end and around the shaft, keeps it from spinning in the jig at the drill end if you get a little too aggressive with your sand paper.

 

[sfleinen]

PocketLathe by NiveCraft

Folks:

Without a doubt, a lathe is the quickest way to do it. I mean, watch this video of a Tiger Sniper tip being installed and shaped -- watch how fast it's done, start to finish:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_1sx48J_N3A

Now, of course not everyone's got a lathe, nor do they have the funds to go out and buy one, but there is an alternative -- "PocketLathe" by NiveCraft:
http://pocketlathe.com/more-Products.asp?id=11

Here's the video that shows how easy and quickly one can shape a cue tip with the PocketLathe product:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=opEt4nwU1ug


I don't have one of these, but it does look pretty interesting! Might make a nice Christmas holiday gift for myself.

Hope this is helpful,
-Sean

 

[3andstop]

Sean, I saw that one also, and almost bought it, but, if you start rolling your shaft back and forth on that thing, I'll bet you'll be chasing it all over the table top. I think you're better off rolling the shaft over your thighs while you sit in a chair.

This is what I was saying, for another 40 bucks you can get that drill jig. Just about everyone already has a 3/8 drill and it really makes it easy.

 

[8Ball48043]

This shaper is available from Mueller's. Other folks, too. It's what I use in the shop to shape newly installed tips. Works without a lathe! Cuts aggressively and quickly. Use care!

 

[Katie Girl]

I am so new around here... green and wet behind there ears. I really only picked up a cue for the first time a year-and-a-half ago, and it was instant love. I bought my first cue only 7 days after playing for the first time... a McDermott MG14, and I'm still playing the original Triangle Medium tip. I've wondered what I'm going to do when the day comes that I must replace that tip. You all have convinced me during the course of this conversation to find a professional at whatever price to do the deed for me... I would surely screw it up.

 

[West Point 1987]

You don't need power tools for this...

Try this...a Willard Scuffer, nickel (you can get a dime, too, but the nickel can be used to get to a dime bevel with practice). I've had the same one since 1990, and it works like a dream. Takes me about 5 minutes from freshly applied stock tip to a good nickel bevel.

http://www.cuesight.com/wpttpr.html

that URL is not an endorsement for the distributor, you can find them anywehre.

 

[sfleinen]

I am so new around here... green and wet behind there ears. I really only picked up a cue for the first time a year-and-a-half ago, and it was instant love. I bought my first cue only 7 days after playing for the first time... a McDermott MG14, and I'm still playing the original Triangle Medium tip. I've wondered what I'm going to do when the day comes that I must replace that tip. You all have convinced me during the course of this conversation to find a professional at whatever price to do the deed for me... I would surely screw it up.

Welcome, Katie Girl! Glad to have you aboard.

Yes, you are correct -- for the first couple of times you need to get your cue's tip replaced, have an experienced person do it. "Experienced," by the way, doesn't mean your nearest barroom hack. Make sure to find an experienced cue repair person. A good starting place is the nearest pool hall near you (not a bar!), or even these boards.

Nominal pricing for a job like this is -- sans the price of the tip itself, of course -- anywhere from $10 to $40. It's worth the money to have a professional do it, rather than a hack -- who can (and often do) ruin not only the tip, but the ferrule, and even worse, break/bust-off the tenon inside the ferrule.

Welcome aboard again,
-Sean

 

[NewStroke]

Fortunately, I know a bit about Japan and the environment. Take a look in the market (Tell them Dan sent you) for the rare but obtainable origami sea urchin. It's naturally shaped like a nickel (dime if less than a year old) and has unlimited sanding power. It's also self cleaning, when the urchin is full, it passes the dust in the form of a gasous secretion.

 

[skip]

What I found out doesn't matter what scuffer you use, willards, cue shark ect. Its being able to get the grit an or leather out of the hole. The best I found is an old small brush that comes with an electric razor . Hope this helps. :thumbup:

 

[Blue Hog ridr]

Does anyone know of a good rough shaper for cutting a new tip to nickel radius quick?

I'll second the Porper Cut Rite. The nickel shaper works great.
The trimmer at the other end tends to shape the tip in a cone fashion.
A poster did explain at one time how to the use the tool properly and avoid this.
I never bothered and use the Porper Mushroom Grazer for that task instead.

Might also consider the Sandman. Its a 4 inch metal curved shaper with permanent grit made to last a life time.

I carry the Willard's and the curved shaper for on the spot repairs.

 

[sfleinen]

I'll second the Porper Cut Rite. The nickel shaper works great.
The trimmer at the other end tends to shape the tip in a cone fashion.
A poster did explain at one time how to the use the tool properly and avoid this.
I never bothered and use the Porper Mushroom Grazer for that task instead.

Might also consider the Sandman. Its a 4 inch metal curved shaper with permanent grit made to last a life time.

I carry the Willard's and the curved shaper for on the spot repairs.

Blue Hog ridr:

That was probably me:

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?p=2116160&post2116160

(I just fixed the image URL in that post, by the way -- the original site, Ozone Billiards, had apparently changed things around on their site and the image was broken.)

The Porper Big Shaver is actually much more accurate in design than the Cut-Rite. It's my tip tool of choice when I have to do major repairs.

For "everyday maintenance" (not every day, of course, just a figure of speech), I love my CueShark! I used to make fun of this thing, because of its size, but I gotta tell ya, when you put one of these in your hand, it's just like the Porper Big Shaver -- you can *feel* the engineering and the precision in it. And, the CueShark has a talc dispenser built right in, which I fill with corn starch (much better/efficient than talc, and doesn't make nearly the mess).

I hope this is helpful!
-Sean

 

[Donny Wessels]

try the brad scuffer