I install my own tips using the spinning drill method and trim them down with a razor blade while spinning. I installed a Sniper tip on my OB-1 shaft 2 months ago. I wetted the tip slighly before trimming it down. All was fine until last night it wasn't shooting like normal. I looked closely and the second layer from the bottom (ferrule end) had partially delaminated. Any ideas what could have happened? I play 5 days a week, around 3 hours per time so the tip had a good amount of play on it.
Sniper question
- Thread starter radge69
- Start date
Let's put a stop to this rumor before it gets started. Sniper tips do not delaminate unless installed incorrectly.socks said:
There are many skilled repairmen/cuemakers on here and around the world that have put on hundreds and hundreds of Snipers with a relatively minor amount of problems. So minor, that if you do enough of them, problems are virtually non-existent.
Note: It's important to watch what you say or repeat, in a public forum.
Gene
Cuedog said:
I agree! Of all the Sniper tips I have put on, NONE have ever delaminated. I know that, because they have all been for locals & I have gotten them back for retipping. In fact I can say that of All the laminated tips I've ever put on, the Tiger brand, is THE most reliable. If you are having delaminateing problems, you are pulling them apart, when you are doing the trimming...JER
If you are spinning it in a drill instead of on a lathe I will make a guess at what the problem is. Your drill does not spin fast enough to cut without a little drag. If your drill is not spinning at least 1500 RPM it is too slow to cut Sniper tips correctly.
Chris
www.cuesmith.com
www.internationalcuemakers.com
Chris
www.cuesmith.com
www.internationalcuemakers.com
Thanks for the info. My follow up question would be why did this appear two months down the road? There is a obvious dark line on the tip where it delaminated, which wasn't there before.
When I installed i trimmed the tip I was spinning around 600 RPM, but now have a new drill that spins at 1500, so hopefully the next one will go better. Unfortunably I have a state tournament next weekend, so I'll have to go with the Moori since I won't have time to break the Sniper in properly before that tournament. The last one took a few weeks to firm up to the point it is now.
When I installed i trimmed the tip I was spinning around 600 RPM, but now have a new drill that spins at 1500, so hopefully the next one will go better. Unfortunably I have a state tournament next weekend, so I'll have to go with the Moori since I won't have time to break the Sniper in properly before that tournament. The last one took a few weeks to firm up to the point it is now.
radge69 said:
There are many factors that could have caused this.
Like Chris said before, RPM's is a certain factor in making a clean cut. Blade sharpness is another. Not to forget the actual technique that you used (blade angle, force used, moisture timing).
It seems to me that you could have torn the 2 layers apart while installing and it just took 2 months for it to completely fail.
I strongly recommend an upgrade to one of Chris's lathes or a cheapie chinese mini-lathe. That will help a bunch!
P.S. For your set-up I would highly recommend an Everest. It is a much more installer friendly tip.
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The fact the Sniper had to break in definitely tells me you sponged the tip up during installation. It should play right from the beginning. Hopefully your faster drill will solve your problem. Also always use a brand new blade on layered tips. The Lenox Titanium coated blades cut cleaner than Stanley or any other that I have tried. Home Depot or Lowes sells them.radge69 said:
Chris
www.cuesmith.com
www.internationalcuemakers.com
I like the Sniper and find it never needs to be broken in. I install with a lathe and wet cut with a razor, but I also put a flat live center against the tip to back it up, so no pressure is put on the laminations as I peel off the excess tip with the razor blade starting at the base of the ferrule and cutting outward towards the live center! Any lam tip can delam if one gets too rough with it while cutting. And I have seen them get soft first before they delam, while I was learning the hard way on how to install the tips. These guys here will save you a lot of time and parts if you listen, and read past posts. Thanks to all that have helped me in the past!
cueman said:
I have never had any issue with tips delaminating, Why are the snipers so likely to have troubles under conditions that others dont? Whats the difference? Does any one actualy know, Or have you
just found ways to help avoid it? There are only two places a tip can delaminate,One is if the leather seperates IE: rotten or weak, Or two, the glue is the weak link, and it fails between layers of leather. So what actualy is happening when the come apart? does the glue fail or does the leather?
The Sniper is a coarser leather and does not cut as easy as a Moori or other Tiger tips. It is kinda like the difference in cutting a Lepro and a Triangle. The Lepro cuts like butter. I would say the failure you mention is a combination of the leather and glue. As you sponge up the leather with dull tooling or slow speed, it no longer has the sound surface it had when it was pressed down hard. So the leather becomes weaker and so does the glue bond.jayman said:
Chris
www.cuesmith.com
www.internationalcuemakers.com
I have 2 WILLARDS & thats all I use. NO PROBLEMS...JERribdoner said:
