Soaking Leather Tips

Island Drive

Island Drive

Otto/Dads College Roommate/Cleveland Browns
Silver Member
What's Used?
1. Skim milk
2. 2%
3. Whole milk
4. Cream?
Also, are there other soaking materials one can use besides cow milk variants?
I'm trying to Avoid tips with layers of glue/Miscue.

I've tried the milk duds, not what I expected.
The newer stiffer cue/shafts breakdown Buffalo leather quickly, tip needs constant maintenance, tip life is shortened allot.

Other hides....
Moose
Deer
Donkey
Buffalo
Pig
Elephant
Sheep
Shark
 
Tad had a treated single layer tip that was really good. I don't know what he used. Stayed in shape and lasted a long time.
 
I'm a hard pressed Triangle guy.
Tried the milk dud on one of my shafts and it felt like it played just like a Triangle.
 
Island Drive, Howdy;

Several years ago I had a conversation with Lenard Bludworth,
he mentioned;
Hank, at one time way way back, I used Le-Pro's. I would soak them in laquiar thinner over night, then place them in the oven [pre-heated] for about 15 minutes, at 325 degrees.[ make sure there DRY].. Or you can let them dry out over a couple days. Sand the back flat, then glue them on. They wind up being harder than a whores heart. They play great, but you got to have a really good stroke to keep from mis-cueing. Also there hard as hell to shape, but keep at it. Let me know if you need more help.
blud

That's the gist of the email he sent me.

hank
 
"Tried the milk duds..." Which ones?
There are dozens and dozens of duds that use different tips, soaks, and presses.
If you want a hobby, that's great.
If you just want good tips, I suggest trying a few different makers and find what you like.
I designed my own press and planned to machine one but tried one of Jeff's Dawgduds first.
They have been my tip of choice now for the last 3-4 years.
I now see no reason to buy the billet and do the cnc work when these tips play great, are cheap, and I can support a member here.
 
Appreciate the ideas/thoughts guys.
Trying to understand Why (I too have unexpectedly miscued)..... I've seen sooooooo many top pros Surprisingly (you can tell by their expression) miscue when they were rolling the ball or Not using excessive outside cueing or speed.
 
Some of the best tips I’ve played with are those that came with Schons.

Then there’s the original Mooris Ernie sends his Gina’s out with.

Lou Figueroa
 
JolietJames said:
"Tried the milk duds..." Which ones?
There are dozens and dozens of duds that use different tips, soaks, and presses.
If you want a hobby, that's great.
If you just want good tips, I suggest trying a few different makers and find what you like.
I designed my own press and planned to machine one but tried one of Jeff's Dawgduds first.
They have been my tip of choice now for the last 3-4 years.
I now see no reason to buy the billet and do the cnc work when these tips play great, are cheap, and I can support a member here.
Click to expand...
Thanks James for your kind words, appreciate that very much. It took a lot of work & wasted money to get my tip press to where I`m happy with the results of them. I do have 1 extra tip press (presses 6 tips at a time) that I maybe interested in selling, but its not going to be cheap. Just haven`t had time to take pics & post it for sale. By the way I use Buttermilk to soak my tips in.
 
Pool Hand Luke said:
2% milk worked with Elkmasters for me but they're soft tips to begin with. Sold that cue and now have LePros. Shoot just fine.
Click to expand...
I did the same, soaked in milk then, left for 2 weeks in the fridge. Dried them for another week. Then I pressed them in a vice, with a bent coin, to get the dome shape. And left it in there for a couple days.
It's nice way, to use up really soft elkmasters.thay worked best on snooker cues.
 
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I'm really baffled with where the chemistry is going here. I can't see any common thread--some of them are soaked in a solvent, so presumably that would all evaporate and maybe have dissolved some component of the tip. Others are leaving organic residue which sounds like they could turn into an interesting biology experiment, expecially in humid climes.

Meanwhile, it also sounds like there are designs for a Tomas de Torquemada autograph tip press, approved by Pope Sixtus IV for use on tips that the Inquisition found floating and are clearly possessed and should have been burned at the stake . . .
 
I also use Jeff's duds (pooldawg8) who responded above. I have them on my playing cues and all my Huebler Mark II house cues. Not only do they play great, but Jeff's a pleasure to deal with, has them in stock, priced right, well packaged, ships fast, etc.
 
Das Cue-Boot said:
I'm really baffled with where the chemistry is going here. I can't see any common thread--some of them are soaked in a solvent, so presumably that would all evaporate and maybe have dissolved some component of the tip. Others are leaving organic residue which sounds like they could turn into an interesting biology experiment, expecially in humid climes.

Meanwhile, it also sounds like there are designs for a Tomas de Torquemada autograph tip press, approved by Pope Sixtus IV for use on tips that the Inquisition found floating and are clearly possessed and should have been burned at the stake . . .
Click to expand...
I think you only keep the tips that weigh more than a duck.
 
I remember Bob Meucci once saying that water buffalo Hyde tips were the hardest (leather anyway) so I bought some and squeezed it with a vice to make it all the more hard which ended up being TOO hard. I'll probably go back to the tried and trusted LePro which have stranded the test of time over the years.
 
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