What makes a good chalk?
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nipponbilliards said:
Hey Nippon, the fact is, there are plenty of companies that make perfectly good chalk. However, not all of them hold the same way. Some chalks are rather soft and will cover your tip very well but will also require more chalking than others. The preference stems from comfort. People want to play with a chalk that reacts the same way each time so they're going to use the same chalk each time. The most popular is Masters so people will naturally prefer Masters. In sum, it's what they're used to, that's why they like it.
Ok, now here's a question,
Now 99% of the world uses Master chalk blue
but why is it some of the other colors dont seem to hold as well or chalk as well??? is it the color dye?
dave
Now 99% of the world uses Master chalk blue
but why is it some of the other colors dont seem to hold as well or chalk as well??? is it the color dye?
dave
StormHotRod300 said:
Well, I do know they stopped using lead in Masters chalk which has made it a bit harder than it was a couple years ago. Now, I don't know much about chalk outside of that but color may have something to do with the ingredients used. I do know that darker colors tend to hold better than the lighter ones.
let us not forget, that our british snooker friends, prefer triangle chalk in green. they feel that is the best chalk in the world. interestingly enough, it's made by the same people who produce masters chalk, and that is tweeten fibre co.
A local pool hall bought some different chalk and everyone started miscuing a lot more. It was quite noticeable.
They have since switched back to Master chalk.
Of course, that doesn't answer your question... I couldn't tell you what or why it reacted differently, only that it did.
They have since switched back to Master chalk.
Of course, that doesn't answer your question... I couldn't tell you what or why it reacted differently, only that it did.
> I read either here or on CCB that Tweeten reformulated the Master chalk in the not too distant past. I think it got worse,it doesn't seem to cover as well or stay put like it used to. I've been using the same stuff for over 10 years,which is the PBT logo National Tournament Chalk,made by the same company that used to make the horrible stuff in the red wrapper with yellow lettering. It was introduced to me by Nick Varner,who gave me a 12 pack of it when I asked him about it at an exhibition in late 1995. I ordered 2 gross of it a week later,and am still hording some. It covers real nice,stays put,and only rarely will someone else use it,because it's not Master,thinking it's "cheap". If it wasn't clearly superior,I wouldn't be using it. Triangle is good stuff too,or at least it used to be. There was also a good brand called Club that was made for or by Steepleton's in Louisville at one time. It was nearly identical to Master,but the label had a club logo on the side. I've always heard the reason the light green,for example,is a softer consistency than the blue is,is because the pigments they use react with the ingredients differently,and they never bothered to figure out why. I've also heard a similar story about the resin they make balls out of,supposedly the 4 ball and the stripe on the 12 are always the smallest in the set,because the resin is softer,due to a negative reaction to the purple dye. Whatever the reason is,suffice to say that Silver Cup chalk SUCKS! Tommy D.
All I use is Blue Master.... I am most comfortable with it, I always keep a peice in my back pocket when I am out shooting because god knows what was mixed into the other chalk that was already sitting at the table.
PoolSleuth
Banned
moccabee said:
Plus it is Light Green....
I'm sure I answered this rumor. I talk with Skip Nemecek a couple times a year concerning these exact questions. According to Skip, other than the colors that had lead pigments, nothing has changed. The color industry changed. And that would only affect a few of the colors. And the amount of pigment is incredibly minute. Blue, however, remains the same formulation since the company's inception.Tommy-D said:
And, FWIW,
Triangle chalk isn't Masters chalk. They're close, but they're not the same. Both are made by Tweeten.
Other than color pigment, the rest of the chalk is the same stuff. Skip doesn't think the amount of color compared to the amount of other stuff would have any impact. From my point of view, something is different. It could be any number of things, but I suspect the pigment change, however minute, changes the absorption properties.
But, there could be other factors as well since I've seen some cubes of Masters Blue as soft as a typical cube of Masters Red. While I've never seen any Masters Red chalk have the characteristics of "good" Masters blue. It could be a simple manufacturing issue related to the amount of blue they make compared to red and how the processes affect the batch sizes.
Fred
So I've been using Silver Cup tan chalk ever since I got a nice cue, to avoid discoloring of the shaft and ferrule. Is it worth a switch to Masters blue? Will I really be able to put more spin on the ball without miscueing, given the same stroke?
-Andrew
-Andrew
Andrew Manning said:
If you don't miscue now, then switching to Masters Blue won't make a big difference. It might make the pool room owner happy however, since the tan must make a mess.
That being said, I'm not a fan of Silver Cup, though I've never tried the tan. The tan/gold Masters has about the same consistency as Masters Blue.
Fred
Cornerman said:
Well, I wish I could say I never miscue. Mostly I do it when trying to get maximum draw. I know the miscue is due to a flawed stroke, but until my stroke is perfect (and it never will be truly perfect), will the Master's blue help me noticeably?
-Andrew
Joe T
Well-known member
I'm no chalk expert but do intend on shopping around testing some others out. I've always used blue masters and do think that since they've switched it somehow it has changed and I really don't like how it's changed, seems to dry and gritty and I feel it smooths out my tip more. Recently I've been keeping about 10 peices in my bathroom which seems to help make the chalk moister which paints on the tip softly rather than grinding it down.
Definitely a case of to each his own.
Definitely a case of to each his own.
Silver Cup Is The Only Way To Go!!!
I never had a preference of which chalk to use, and was always using whatever the pool room had.
Most of the rooms that i know use MASTER, which i never ever had a problem with until about 4-5 years ago.
Whatever they did to it completely changed the way it played.
ESPECIALLY that MASTER that had the FLAG printed on the side.
THOSE pieces were total junk IMO.
Some batches were just to soft and large grained. Kind of like Sand, and it wouldn't be uncommon for us to get a new piece at the beggining of say a 4 hour session, and have this HUGE hole whiddled into it by the end. A hole that you might think took maybe a week or so of constant play to achieve. Chalk would be all over your hands, and all over the table.
Some of those batches were the complete opposite, and were so hard, it was like trying to chalk your tip with a piece of granite!
I think that once the MASTER with the FLAG left the scene, that particular chalk has never been the same, for the same reasons. Too hard, or too soft.
The other thing that drives me crazy, is the fact that the MASTER that i use today, sucks up moisture like a sponge, and when i go to chalk, and it is humid out, it's not CHALKING the tip. It is for all intensive purposes, CLAYING the tip. Very wet, and streaky, and one swipe puts some on, and the very next swipe puts a new steak on and takes some of the old one off.
I end up either having to go ask the houseman to go toss the piece in the microwave for a minute (when i am gambling) as this heats it up, and stops the whole wetness thing from happening for maybe 10 minutes, or i end up having this wad of paper towels, in which i swipe the chalk with the towel, removing the wet clay surface stuff, until i get lower, and it starts to behave like chalk, and FLAKE/grain off, instead of streaking/claying off.
This might last about 4 or 5 shots in humid conditions before i have to do it again.
SILVER CUP on the other hand, is a chalk that i have NEVER had a problem with. It's never been too hard, or to soft, and has NEVER started to "CLAY UP" when the weather conditions got humid.
Personally, i feel that it is a much better, more consistent chalk then MASTER, and that the only reason MASTER is more popular, is cause it is one of the industry standards.
MASTER is the ONLY chalk that i have ever played with that i have miscued in the MIDDLE of the tip, and not on the edges. (usually when it is "claying") Which at the times it happens, completely baffles me, and leaves me with a big question mark over my head, wondering how on earth that is possible.
I have NEVER had that problem or any for that matter with SILVER CUP. It has never cost me any money, where MASTER i feel has cost me some $$$$ over the years.
I never had a preference of which chalk to use, and was always using whatever the pool room had.
Most of the rooms that i know use MASTER, which i never ever had a problem with until about 4-5 years ago.
Whatever they did to it completely changed the way it played.
ESPECIALLY that MASTER that had the FLAG printed on the side.
THOSE pieces were total junk IMO.
Some batches were just to soft and large grained. Kind of like Sand, and it wouldn't be uncommon for us to get a new piece at the beggining of say a 4 hour session, and have this HUGE hole whiddled into it by the end. A hole that you might think took maybe a week or so of constant play to achieve. Chalk would be all over your hands, and all over the table.
Some of those batches were the complete opposite, and were so hard, it was like trying to chalk your tip with a piece of granite!
I think that once the MASTER with the FLAG left the scene, that particular chalk has never been the same, for the same reasons. Too hard, or too soft.
The other thing that drives me crazy, is the fact that the MASTER that i use today, sucks up moisture like a sponge, and when i go to chalk, and it is humid out, it's not CHALKING the tip. It is for all intensive purposes, CLAYING the tip. Very wet, and streaky, and one swipe puts some on, and the very next swipe puts a new steak on and takes some of the old one off.
I end up either having to go ask the houseman to go toss the piece in the microwave for a minute (when i am gambling) as this heats it up, and stops the whole wetness thing from happening for maybe 10 minutes, or i end up having this wad of paper towels, in which i swipe the chalk with the towel, removing the wet clay surface stuff, until i get lower, and it starts to behave like chalk, and FLAKE/grain off, instead of streaking/claying off.
This might last about 4 or 5 shots in humid conditions before i have to do it again.
SILVER CUP on the other hand, is a chalk that i have NEVER had a problem with. It's never been too hard, or to soft, and has NEVER started to "CLAY UP" when the weather conditions got humid.
Personally, i feel that it is a much better, more consistent chalk then MASTER, and that the only reason MASTER is more popular, is cause it is one of the industry standards.
MASTER is the ONLY chalk that i have ever played with that i have miscued in the MIDDLE of the tip, and not on the edges. (usually when it is "claying") Which at the times it happens, completely baffles me, and leaves me with a big question mark over my head, wondering how on earth that is possible.
I have NEVER had that problem or any for that matter with SILVER CUP. It has never cost me any money, where MASTER i feel has cost me some $$$$ over the years.
Fwiw
FYI, billiard chalk is sand, not chalk.
I do agree that Master Blue seems to have a wide range of textures. Maybe not so wide as you're experiencing. I tend to think it's a processing issue at Tweeten's as well as a storage issue.
Fred
The flag was the only difference. The company put the flag on the label for 9/11. The chalk never changed.SUPERSTAR said:
FYI, billiard chalk is sand, not chalk.
I do agree that Master Blue seems to have a wide range of textures. Maybe not so wide as you're experiencing. I tend to think it's a processing issue at Tweeten's as well as a storage issue.
Fred