When to replace a tip for optimal performance?

[JoeyA]

Funny I am the opposite of you. I hate having a new tip on. I think tips play best at the end, not the beginning.

I think tips play best right before I have to replace them.

In fact I know guys that put Moori tips on and tell the cue guy to cut them in half immediately....

If you recently just put on a new tip don't screw with it.


Ken

Sounds like you like a tip when it gets harder

Try a Moori hard, or, even press a Moori hard for a few hours.

You can get to where they "click" a little but I really like the hit and results from a very hard layered tip.

Once, before a 3-day provincial tournament (AA class , I'm no pro) , I changed my tip the night before when I was practicing. I finished 3rd in a 64 player field.

If something bugs you , change it because there is nothing worse than playing with fear.

THERE IS NO PRICE FOR THE PEACE OF MIND.

Looks don't mean a thing..... most tips will change a full hardness grade in 4-6 weeks.... if you don't start with a hard you usually end up with one....

For most players it won't matter aside from having to adjust to a new tip but if you want to play with the same tip all the time you either have to convert to hard tips or have yours changed out every monthish.....

Option 2 is the new Outsville Ki-Techs they stay the same grade for months since they are single layered and engineered for a certain feel and sound and not just pressed softer to make a soft....

Chris

Never get your hair done the day before prom.

Changing a tip just before a big tournament is normally not a good idea, especially if the current tip is not giving you any trouble (mushrooming, miscueing, hard spot, poorly shaped etc).

However, as others above have mentioned, don't let negative things sit in your thoughts. Address them and do whatever is necessary to resolve the issue.

I just had a Kamui Original (Tan) Medium tip cut in half before installation. It probably wasn't the best idea I have had. My ferrule is VERY SHORT and I did not want a full size tip almost the same size as my ferrule sitting at the end of my cue. I have seen far too many top players playing with tips that are the thickness of a silver dime to believe that tall/fat tips are the way to go.

Anyway, the cue guy said he cuts tips in half with a pill cutter so I let him do it with that. It took a few turns for him to cut all the way through the tip. I figured that if I cut the full size tip in half, I would be at the height I wanted the tip in the first place. Secondly, I figured (wrongly) that I could use the other half of the tip at a later date. That didn't work out because the pill cutter didn't cut the tip perfectly in half. I wound up using the thicker portion on the tip and would not want to use the thinner portion. I've played with the tip for about 10 hours so far and it is playing just fine.

I am curious if the reduced size tip will play more consistently than if I gradually wore the tip down from the full size. My logic says yes, but I will try to let the tip do the talking.

So far, I don't have the inclination to constantly re-shape my tip every time I come to the table like I do when I have a full size tip.

I think, next time, I will have the lathe spinning and cutting the tip down to my desired size rather than using a pill cutter. Even though the pill cutter is sharp, it puts the wrong kind of pressure on the glued layers. Time will tell if I committed a major faux pas.

JoeyA

 

[Tramp Steamer]

Normally, I used to tell a customer to replace the tip when the old one is as thin as a dime.
I, like many others here however, would probably not replace a worn tip just before a tournament unless I absolutely had to.

 

[nobcitypool]

I use Kamui SS or the Ultraskin Soft. All Ultraskin Soft over the past 9 months. I have approximately 1/3 of the tip removed when it is installed. Usually, after about 10 hours of play, there is a slight amount of mushrooming with any soft tip I've used. Trim it down, reshape and it is good to go. Occasionally may need a little reshaping but generally, just a very light scuffing now and then gets it done. A tip should last for a year or two done this way. I see guys that grind on their tips all the time and then wonder why it only lasts a month or two. I don't think this is necessary.

 

[Scott Lee]

It's all in your head, imo. You're a little obsessive if you think that tip needs replacing. When the tip sidewall is the thickness of a dime is when the tip needs to be replaced. Let it get thinner than that and you risk damaging the ferrule.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

Yes, that's what I'm worried about - not being used to new equipment.
Here are some pictures of the tip.

 

[KMRUNOUT]

I had to smile.

My normal tip is a Moori soft, but the local cue tip guy suggested a Kamui Black soft. It plays good, but since I have had it mushrooms a little and I usually have to shape it slightly after 8 hours of play or so.

I never had to do that with the Moori tip so this will be my last time using a Kamui Black Soft.

Ken

Ken, you have the exact opposite experience of most people. Moori's mushroom quite a lot when new. You definitely have to retrim them after you play a bit. Kamui on the other hand holds its shape MUCH better. I have found that the installation procedure has a great impact on how the tip plays, wears, and holds it shape. When I put a Kamui black soft on my cue, it never needs to be shaped, and lasts forever it seems. I play pool quite a lot and I have a 2 year old Kamui black soft on there. I also love the way tips play right at the end of their life...especially single layer tips like le pro or triangle. Still, the Kamui is the best overall for me.

KMRUNOUT

 

[Island Drive]

I am playing in Eurotour next week and my tip(Kamui Black Medium) has been used for almost 4 months now.

Has its optimal performance begun to fade?

Should I replace it with a new one?

Since your playing in the Euro tour you definitely know how to hold a stick, therefore, I assumed you have at least two shooting shafts with the same tip. Set up draw shots with each shaft and you'll find your answer.

Once you play long enough, your able to tell when the leather gets dried out, by unexpected miscues or when your using tip tools, the leather seems to come apart.

 

[rayjay]

I am playing in Eurotour next week and my tip(Kamui Black Medium) has been used for almost 4 months now.

Has its optimal performance begun to fade?

Should I replace it with a new one?

Only you can be the judge of that, but that's not too old for a tip. I install my own Kamui brown S and cut off the top three or four layers (I think there's 11), and it will play pretty much like the old one I took off, which I wear down to about a dime's thickness and then replace.

 

[HueblerHustler7]

I am playing in Eurotour next week and my tip(Kamui Black Medium) has been used for almost 4 months now.

Has its optimal performance begun to fade?

Should I replace it with a new one?

Replace the tip when YOU feel your missing something out of either your ball control or shot making, plain and simple.

 

[8onthebreak]

Press a Moori med

I have my Moori med tips pressed before install, at the advice of my installer. Hits good right out the gate, and gets better and better.
I think it's about confidence, if you are not confident in the tip, change it...it's a cheap placebo.