I donated a terrible wood-surface table to the warehouse we used in the repair department while I was in the navy. Along with the table, I sent 4-6 cheap cues. Within a week, none had tips any more. When I came in the next week, some clever person (and not as a joke, unfortunately) had put a layered tip on it. Layers of carefully cut and stacked Reactor-plant-cleanliness certified red duct tape. I didn't test hit, but I imagine the grip on the cueball from the glue residue on the edges helped on the impossible spin-shots!