tinlock467
Banned
Sirs....I'm interested in knowing what the radius is for a "dime" and "nickel" cutter. I'd like to order a carbide and a high speed steel version. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks. :grin:
tip shaping cutters
- Thread starter tinlock467
- Start date
tinlock467
Banned
Thanks guys. I guess what I was really asking was were can I get a cutter that already has that shape to it. I would describe it as a concave cutter with that radius already on it. That make sense ?
I will use one of these for phenolic and G-10 material...but not for a leather tip. If you use on leather, you need to be real careful or the leather will grab and your tip will come off.
Save your money. For leather tips, use a sharp utility blade (just the blade, not the whole knife). Place your regular cutter about 1/16" away from the installed tip, place the utility blade flat against the cutter, pin the blade down with your thumb, and use your other hand to rock the blade back and forth to shape the tip. It takes about 2 seconds and costs $0.01.
***YES, I know lathes can be extremely dangerous machines.***
***YES, I know some may think this is an unsafe way to shape a tip.***
But, remember, walking across the street can be dangerous if you don't do it right. I have shaped hundreds and hundreds of tips this way and still have all my fingers. If you're intelligent enough to run a lathe, you *should* be able to handle this operation.
For phenolic and g-10, use a file or a rasp.
***YES, I know lathes can be extremely dangerous machines.***
***YES, I know some may think this is an unsafe way to shape a tip.***
But, remember, walking across the street can be dangerous if you don't do it right. I have shaped hundreds and hundreds of tips this way and still have all my fingers. If you're intelligent enough to run a lathe, you *should* be able to handle this operation.
For phenolic and g-10, use a file or a rasp.
or you could just get this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH-9U0m8e8E&feature=plcp
Hopefully this will not be viewed as a huge digression:
So I'm sitting at league Sunday afternoon and I hear a guy near me asking "Where can I get a 13mm tip? Are there any cue supply stores around here?" One of my customers piped up "Talk to that guy right there, he can take care of you and have you cue back next Sunday for play." A guy next to him pipes up, "Heck, I can do it overnight, but I don't have any 13mm tips." So I sat there and thought to myself, "Why do I even try?" LOL I thanked my customer for the referral. Obviously my customer - and others in the hall - appreciate the value of having a tip "installed" whereas the guy who was going to do it "overnight" was simply cutting off the old tip and glueing the new one on - with at best a hand sanding of the ferrule and tip mating surfaces. I have no idea how he burnishes the sides, or if he even knows to do that. I have no idea how he deals with a ferrule that is 12.8mm or 13.1mm or 13.2 mm.
And just to be clear, I can obviously do one overnight (actually in 20-30 minutes-I like to take my time) and I'm not limited to buying just the right size tip. :smile:
End of digression.
Gary
So I'm sitting at league Sunday afternoon and I hear a guy near me asking "Where can I get a 13mm tip? Are there any cue supply stores around here?" One of my customers piped up "Talk to that guy right there, he can take care of you and have you cue back next Sunday for play." A guy next to him pipes up, "Heck, I can do it overnight, but I don't have any 13mm tips." So I sat there and thought to myself, "Why do I even try?" LOL I thanked my customer for the referral. Obviously my customer - and others in the hall - appreciate the value of having a tip "installed" whereas the guy who was going to do it "overnight" was simply cutting off the old tip and glueing the new one on - with at best a hand sanding of the ferrule and tip mating surfaces. I have no idea how he burnishes the sides, or if he even knows to do that. I have no idea how he deals with a ferrule that is 12.8mm or 13.1mm or 13.2 mm.
And just to be clear, I can obviously do one overnight (actually in 20-30 minutes-I like to take my time) and I'm not limited to buying just the right size tip. :smile:
End of digression.
Gary
Cutters
Buy a few solid carbide or cobalt large wing roundover router bits, take them to your local tooling maker and have him change the radius to what ever you need...With either of these you won't need HSS...
That is if you are looking for some rotory cutters, otherwise check out the fleabay site posted above....
Buy a few solid carbide or cobalt large wing roundover router bits, take them to your local tooling maker and have him change the radius to what ever you need...With either of these you won't need HSS...
That is if you are looking for some rotory cutters, otherwise check out the fleabay site posted above....
I tried cutters that were ground to the radius I wanted many years ago and they tore more tips off than they shaped correctly. That is why I made the tip shaper that pivots to cut the radius. As mentioned a carbide radius cutter mounted in the router will do a good job, but that seems extreme to shape a tip. The advice to get good at using a utility blade is the best advice I have seen in this thread so far. And this is coming from someone who sells tip shapers. For house cue work or something you want to be really fast at I think the shapers are great. Or for one diameter shaft they are great. But I believe every diameter shaft needs a different tip radius as it is the outside edge that grabs the cue ball and a dime or nickel radius will be much different out on the edge between a 12 and 13 mm tip.
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The one from cueman is the one I referred to. Also taig has a radius cutter. I actually have both. With a QCTP you can adjust cuemans a lot easier for your lathe. Personally I've been using a utility blade and Joel Popes "Last4ever Tip Tool". Get my initial shape using the blade then the tip tool to finish it off. NOTE: I am not a professional and just take care of my own stuff. My results have definitely approved.
My biggest issue was centering the tip and that is no longer a problem since I picked up one the Universal Tip Centralizers sold by a fellow AZer.
Therefore while I am at it I also use these sold by fellow AZers.
Tip Press from Rocket Cues or Picone
Tip Jig
Man maybe I should start offering tip replacement services.......
