Tip thickness
- Thread starter JE54
- Start date
I've found that most tips are best after their 1/2 gone. They have compacted as much as their going to but I let em work down naturally cause I want to get my moneys worth. Start paying over 10$ for a tip and I cringe just shaping it! lol Guess I'm just cheap.:embarrassed2:
Joe Blackburn cuts my Elkmasters down to what we call "playin' weight". Takes almost half the tip off. I don't really like to have a full tip, its too thick for my taste. I believe John Schmidt said it best when describing a thick tip as having a birthday cake on your shaft, I don't think he cares for it either 
When I was in the bidness I would install a tip with a .125 (1/8) inch burnished edge. The customer could ask for something different, of course, but 1/8 inch was the best edge size for longivity and support.
Think of a newly installed tip as a building. If the building is eccessively tall it sways (less support). If the tip is installed too short it won't last as long as a customer would like. 1/8 inch seemed to be the best compromise.
Also. When someone asked when the best time to change tips was, I would almost always say when the old tip was as thin as a dime. When a tip is that thin the feel of the cue hit has changed (usually harder) and from a dime thickness on down a person runs the risk of damaging the ferrule.
Think of a newly installed tip as a building. If the building is eccessively tall it sways (less support). If the tip is installed too short it won't last as long as a customer would like. 1/8 inch seemed to be the best compromise.
Also. When someone asked when the best time to change tips was, I would almost always say when the old tip was as thin as a dime. When a tip is that thin the feel of the cue hit has changed (usually harder) and from a dime thickness on down a person runs the risk of damaging the ferrule.
Last edited:
I'm old school and I'd like each one of you to know that if you find out I ever spent even 5 dollars for a tip to please shoot me because its a sure sign I've lost my mind.
Triangle tips are great and only about 60 cents each.
http://www.seyberts.com/products/Triangle_Cue_Tip-150-80.html
Playing about 6 hrs a week at best, these tips are amazing. They let me run 40s all the time, and even a few 50s here and there. With all the money I save on tips, I can spend it on rabbits feet. Now that's really where the performance is.
oops... to answer the question, I leave em like they are. I do trim them to the diameter of the ferrule though.
Triangle tips are great and only about 60 cents each.
http://www.seyberts.com/products/Triangle_Cue_Tip-150-80.html
Playing about 6 hrs a week at best, these tips are amazing. They let me run 40s all the time, and even a few 50s here and there. With all the money I save on tips, I can spend it on rabbits feet. Now that's really where the performance is.
oops... to answer the question, I leave em like they are. I do trim them to the diameter of the ferrule though.
I sometimes tend to accidently hit the cue ball when practice stroking after having a new (thicker) tip on my cue.
That comes from waiting too long to change the old one, imho, so I'm trying to change my tip before it gets too worn down so the difference between thickness doesn't cause me to foul.
Jeff Livingston
That comes from waiting too long to change the old one, imho, so I'm trying to change my tip before it gets too worn down so the difference between thickness doesn't cause me to foul.
Jeff Livingston
depends
Every time you want a simple answer . . .
A milk dud or standard Elkmaster I shape and play, it's pretty short to begin with. A Moori I take two layers off of but I don't really like it until it gets a little shorter than that. At a dollar a layer I hate to peel too many of them onto the shop floor. I leave them tall for customers unless they request them cut down. My Moori medium on one shaft is down to about a dime thick or a little more on the sides and is past due for a replacement. It was shooting pretty good a few months ago and I hate to bury it but it's time.
Not what you asked but I'm moving away from layered tips on my personal cues simply because with a dime radius you often are moving through different hardnesses of tip as you go through glue impregnated areas and pure leather ones. Sometimes your cue tip is harder in the middle, softer on the outside and sometimes it is harder on the outside and softer in the middle.
Hu
Every time you want a simple answer . . .
A milk dud or standard Elkmaster I shape and play, it's pretty short to begin with. A Moori I take two layers off of but I don't really like it until it gets a little shorter than that. At a dollar a layer I hate to peel too many of them onto the shop floor. I leave them tall for customers unless they request them cut down. My Moori medium on one shaft is down to about a dime thick or a little more on the sides and is past due for a replacement. It was shooting pretty good a few months ago and I hate to bury it but it's time.
Not what you asked but I'm moving away from layered tips on my personal cues simply because with a dime radius you often are moving through different hardnesses of tip as you go through glue impregnated areas and pure leather ones. Sometimes your cue tip is harder in the middle, softer on the outside and sometimes it is harder on the outside and softer in the middle.
Hu
I can't stand having a full tip. it's way too big and it looks ugly. Next time I might cut the tip in half.
Tips to tall
Many new tips are to tall when first installed, when shooting with english the tip will flex because of the off center hit on the tip, this can cause the tip to weaken, preform like a softer tip or if it is a layered tip it can cause the layers to seperate. This is more noticeable on a thinner shaft where the tip can be as tall as it is wide unless shaved down a bit.
Many new tips are to tall when first installed, when shooting with english the tip will flex because of the off center hit on the tip, this can cause the tip to weaken, preform like a softer tip or if it is a layered tip it can cause the layers to seperate. This is more noticeable on a thinner shaft where the tip can be as tall as it is wide unless shaved down a bit.
Well, I use MOORI and as Hu said I'm not fond of shaving off a dollar on each layer. I put mine on, shape it up and let it go. Over time it's going to compress and get smaller. I'd rather tolerate a thicker tip for a short period of time than to cut it in half and then have to change it again after it compresses and gets too thin to use. Nothing irritates me more than seeing a cue with a really thin tip on it. I like mine thick.
MULLY
MULLY
You would hate me man, lol! I just put a new Kamui black medium tip on my Scruggs and Joss sneakys. It was easy, I took one tip, cut it in half, then used one half on each cue! I like my tip as thin as can be, but, thats just me.
Joe
I'm a thick tip guy
I put most of my tips on myself and leave them thick. I like a softer hit and even with a pretty hard tip, like Triangles, if they are left thick, the hit is quieter and softer.
Almost all the strong players I know like very thin tips. One guy, when he looks at my tall, thick tip, says it almost makes him sick at his stomach to look at that tip!
My theory is that thin tips are somewhat of a FAD with good players. Regardless of how the trend started, somehow it has become "the thing to do" among strong players. When I started playing pool back in the early 1960s, I don't think thin tips were the "in thing" among strong players, but now they are.
I put most of my tips on myself and leave them thick. I like a softer hit and even with a pretty hard tip, like Triangles, if they are left thick, the hit is quieter and softer.
Almost all the strong players I know like very thin tips. One guy, when he looks at my tall, thick tip, says it almost makes him sick at his stomach to look at that tip!
My theory is that thin tips are somewhat of a FAD with good players. Regardless of how the trend started, somehow it has become "the thing to do" among strong players. When I started playing pool back in the early 1960s, I don't think thin tips were the "in thing" among strong players, but now they are.
I put most of my tips on myself and leave them thick. I like a softer hit and even with a pretty hard tip, like Triangles, if they are left thick, the hit is quieter and softer.
Almost all the strong players I know like very thin tips. One guy, when he looks at my tall, thick tip, says it almost makes him sick at his stomach to look at that tip!
My theory is that thin tips are somewhat of a FAD with good players. Regardless of how the trend started, somehow it has become "the thing to do" among strong players. When I started playing pool back in the early 1960s, I don't think thin tips were the "in thing" among strong players, but now they are.
Tho its just a guess, I wonder if the solid leather tips back then were better quality than what we get now from Triangle, LePro, Elkmaster etc (not talking about layered) I wonder if the leather didn't hold up better to mushrooming and kept its shape better?
Especially with a tip that is already pressed a thinner tip is more consistent in its play than a thick tip. A thicker tip can compress at the shoulder more than a tip with a thinner shoulder which would help to make the hit more natural to the aim.
Just a thought,
Grey Ghost