tips shaped by chalk poll

[softshot]

I guess I'm the only one who has had a tip glaze over to the point where it is almost shiny... at that point you must rough up the leather so it will hold the chalk again..

How do you guys in the "chalk only" crowd deal with this?

Impact does play a part IMO as it drives the chalk into the leather. and as such separates the molecules of the leather resulting in wear on the tip.

I still scuff/shape my tip whenever it won't hold chalk..

what do the chalk only folks do?? polish it until it gleams?

the purpose of chalk is to provide a gritty surface for the tip to grip the cueball.

...but hey... the bangers may be right .. from now on I'm going to grind my tip into the chalk with as much pressure as I can muster...because that will help "shape" my tip...

take a standard 1 inch chalk and grind it against a 1/4" tip until one of them runs out of material...

my money is on the tip to win...

 

[softshot]

Items used in test:

New Cube Blue Masters Chalk(Flag)

.375x1.5x2 inch block of extruded 6061 t6 aluminum.

6061 t6 is very near the top of the scale of the best cutting metals, it cuts very easily. It should also be noted that I was rubbing on an extruded surface which has tiny ridges which should be sanded away easily changing the dimension of the metal.

Instrumentation:

0-.5 Starrett micrometer measuring to the nearest ten-thousandths. (.0001)

The official US time clock was used as the timer to measure to the second within minus zero plus three seconds.

Procedure:

I removed the paper and the glue from roughly one/half of the chalk cube to use only chalk to attempt to sand the aluminum.

I used a piece of soft leather to remove the oxidation from the aluminum.

I then measured the aluminum finding the actual thickness to be .3738

I next used the chalk to rub a roughly .375 by 2 area of the block continuously for three minutes with a back and forth motion and a pressure somewhat greater than I use to chalk my cue.

I cleaned the block, measured it, and repeated the three minute test.

I then cleaned the block, measured again, and tested in the same manner for four minutes to have a total of ten minutes sanding time on the block.

Results:

The chalk cube was substantially worn in this test losing about .100 in height. However the test block of aluminum showed no change in height measured to the nearest ten-thousandths.(0001.) As a reference, a sheet of common printer paper on my desk is eighty-five ten-thousandths.(.0085)

Discoloration was noticeable. There seemed to be the faintest difference in texture of the surface but when blind testing by closing my eyes and tumbling the block in my hands I was then unable to detect which of four areas had just been rubbed with leather and which with chalk using the tip of my finger or a fingernail.

Conclusion:

Any abrasive action of chalk on tips has little or effect on the shape of the tip.

Of course this test was conducted in my office not at a test lab and things like the exact pressure applied when rubbing the surface were not controlled. I don't put this test forward as an exact proof of the abrasiveness of chalk or lack thereof however I do think it is a strong indication that cue tip chalk is not an effective abrasive.

It also has to be considered that the chalk is largely working against other chalk already on the cue tip and not the leather itself when adding chalk to a cue tip further reducing the effectiveness of the chalk in shaping the tip.

Addendum:

On my desk I also have a "dead slick" stone. This is used to bring a metal surface to a mirror finish after progressively sanding the metal smoother. After using this stone metal reflects almost like glass. I sanded on the surface of the 6061 t6 block for three minutes using the same procedure as above. Some areas of the .5x 2" section of the block were beginning to slick off and I could measure a .0005 reduction in height. Pretty conclusive evidence in my mind that the smoothest stone I have found is more effective at removing material than chalk and I would never attempt to shape anything with the stone.

I think a better test would be to glue a new tip to a metal rod...measure the length of the tip and rod as accurately as possible.. place the rod/tip into a drill press and drill it all the way through a brand new chalk....

then measure the length of the rod/tip combo again.

my guess.. the abrasiveness of the chalk would be minimal...but I bet the tip would be very shiny....LOL

 

[ShootingArts]

my bet

I think a better test would be to glue a new tip to a metal rod...measure the length of the tip and rod as accurately as possible.. place the rod/tip into a drill press and drill it all the way through a brand new chalk....

then measure the length of the rod/tip combo again.

my guess.. the abrasiveness of the chalk would be minimal...but I bet the tip would be very shiny....LOL

My bet is that the tip and little bit of chalk built up on it would be as thick as the original length if not thicker. The grit will embed into the tip and becomes a cutting tool cutting away the chalk that is not as tightly bound in the cube as the grit is to the leather. That is what seems to have happened with the aluminum and my guess is that exactly the same will happen with leather. Then I have to chalk and clean a tip over and over to cut through a cube and try the test that way, much more time consuming but it should yield a more realistic result.

I am going to run a series of similar tests in the coming weeks however for them to be effective it will take more time than simply boring a hole in a cube of chalk. Too, the test yesterday was done with items I happened to have laying around my house. The other tests will tie up my shop and shop time and I'm going to work today due to work load. No time to play at the shop for awhile!

Edited to add: Take a look at how I deal with a glazed tip. I roll the brad tool over the tip making small indentions. I don't scuff or dig and tips hold chalk well and last me for years like that. When I see people scuffing and digging deeply into the tip with some of the tools out there I just consider it money in the bank.

Hu

 

[Str8PoolMan]

Quit chalking and start talking...

I have no scientific evidence to back it up, but in my experience, the tip does more to shape the chalk (cube, that is) than the chalk does to shape the tip.

Not very helpful, I know. But, heck, everybody else got to post here.