All I've done is wet the tip, and use a fresh razor. Cuts like butter for me. Not saying that's what the problem is, but I don't overly soak the tip, just enough to slighlty wet the edges. Actually what Joey mentioned about using a sponge, what I do would probably be equivilent to applying light pressure with a well squeezed sponge- damp enough to darken the leather, but not heavily soaked in or anything like that.
I never use It on mooris or some of the others though, a good razor is all I usually need. I only used It on snipers the first time because I was forewarned. It worked well, so that's what I do with those. Before that I had used the trick on some of the softer tips with porus fibres that like to rip or tear.
Blades can get dull pretty quickly when cutting leather, and when that happens they will start to pull and rip at tips even with a damp tip, especially some softer or more porus type tips. That can cause layers to pull loose rather easily. I just buy those packs of 100 that come in the plastic dispencers. I hang them on the pegboard, and for cutting the sides I pop of a fresh one quite often, but usually use the old ones for the radius, because they don't grab as hard, and not as much risk of them snagging. With the sniper however, I use a fresh blade on the radius too, although My handling of the blade is very precise, so that It doesn't snag, but It also cuts smoother as a result. I guess what I'm saying is that sometimes I tend to get lazy with the preasure I use, but with these I am very carefull working them to shape a little at a time. If it starts to dry out, or a cut through the wet layer, then I just wipe a wet finger or paper towel with a drop or 2 of water accross the radius, and keep shaping.
I don't install many of these tips like some of the other tips, but so far I haven't had any problems. I have heard stories though, so I don't know if It's the way I installed them, or If I have just been lucky and was working with a good tip. I haven't heard anything negative about consistency issues with them, just that the problems can usually be illiminated by wetting them, and so far that's worked for me. The sides of snipers hold up as well or better then most I have seen. They require few to no retrims. They suprise me how well they hold their shape.
Greg
