New Aurora snooker tips samples

[eaoin11]

Fantastic idea to do this with a Japanese company. They seem to come up with new products all the time. An interesting new tip I've seen is the 'half' layered tip, though I have no idea what they play like.

[amashun]

i bought a few, if you are in sydney, i'm happy to sell one to you?

[poolqjunkie]

I have posted the tips to all those who have purchased them, thank you.

[eaoin11]

i bought a few, if you are in sydney, i'm happy to sell one to you?

Thanks for the offer amashun, have sent a message.

[ADR147]

i guess i should get you to send me one!

[amashun]

Thanks for the offer amashun, have sent a message.

no worries mate, i don't know why my account is inactive so i can't see any message at all. perhaps i have to post minimum 10 posts to activate all features on the site.

Could you please send me email to amashun at gmail dot com instead?

[eaoin11]

Sorry mate I forgot, you do need to have 10 posts. Will send an email.

[eaoin11]

How would these tips compare to MW's laminated tips?

[poolqjunkie]

When I designed the Aurora tips, I wanted to make sure I offer the players the most leather contact surface area, with the least glue lines. My objective was to create a snooker tip with the pure leather tip "feel," which also offers the durability and elasticity of a laminated tip.

Would you rather hit your cue ball with glue lines or real leather?

More real leather contact surface means better "feel", better control, better grip, and lesser chance of miscues.

Below is a picture showing two cues with the same tip size--the one on the left features an Aurora snooker tip, with only 1 glue line on the contact surface; the one on the right is a major brand laminated tip, which clearly shows much more glue lines and hence lesser leather contact on the chalk surface.

[BoBnoGG!n]

i think thats a fantastic concept. ive played with a few laminated tips before and my only problem was it didnt grip like leather, always got very bold on top easily, really slick. which is why im sticking to pro granite.. but id love to try your tip. sounds like a new leap forward

[Mick Dundee]

Hello airin
got my tip today ,so I'll give it a go this weekend
and let you know how I get on
thanks again ,mike

[sanman]

I have never used laminated tips as they are generally not available in south africa. so please excuse the ignorance here. I would like to know what are the advantages of laminated over normal or non laminated tips. The thing is if glue lines are an impediment to holding chalk why use laminated tips. From my understanding generally lamination offers more flexiblity, spring and less chance of deformation.

[Terry Davidson]

pqj and Forum Members:

I received my new Aurora 3/4-butt cue at the start of this week and it was purposely fitted with one of Aurora's new layered tips.

The only modification I made to the tip was to dome it a little bit more which is my preference. I've now used the tip for approximately 30 frames plus my daily warm-up exercises of shooting the spots and potting long balls across the blue spot from the baulk line and screwing back to the baulk line.

After all this pounding (I have to shoot extremely hard to screw back to the baulk line) I've found the tip to be just the right hardness (not too hard nor too soft) and it grips the cueball VERY well. I just had a close look at the tip with a magnifying glass and can find no compacting nor any change in shape at all.

I'm VERY impressed with this tip. Previously my preferred tip was the Pro Granite and I still like those a lot however I do find these Aurora tips to be just as good so now the test will be over time which looks like it might be a long time with this tip.

I've also noticed it is not getting any harder and it still is holding the chalk very well

Terry

[poolqjunkie]

I have never used laminated tips as they are generally not available in south africa. so please excuse the ignorance here. I would like to know what are the advantages of laminated over normal or non laminated tips. The thing is if glue lines are an impediment to holding chalk why use laminated tips. From my understanding generally lamination offers more flexibility, spring and less chance of deformation.

Hi,

The first laminated tip introduced into the US was the Moori tips from Japan. To understand the benefits of laminated tips, and why laminated tips are manufactured they way they are today, we need to look at the history and how laminated tips have become so popular.

When laminated tips were first introduced into the US from Japan, they created a big buzz. Before then most tips were made with water Buffalo hide and although they came in many forms they basically did not last very long and they all had the problem of deformation and consistency.

H Moori started using layers of pigskin with very good glue and excellent compressing technique to create a tip which basically never de-laminates, with very little mushrooming over time.

It was very revolutionary. The biggest advantages that players and cue makers noticed back in those early days were the durability and the consistency that they could not find on any other tips.

Most US pool players seemed to prefer the firmer and harder hit provided by the laminated tip. They felt that they could get more spin with this tip (probably because the shape of the tip stays more round and consistent over time), and this tip lasted much longer.

It created a big rave in the US among cue makers and players. It was not easy to get because H Moori would not export directly to the end customers outside of Japan, so most people had to buy from cue makers and agents, who usually got theirs through another agent and so on, making the tips very expensive to buy for end users.

Although a lot of people liked Moori tips (1st generation) they complained that it was a bit too hard and that chalk did not stay on very well.

Soon, Moori came out with a second generation, which was a bit softer, with different harness to choose from, and was supposed to hold chalk a bit better.

2 nd generation Moori tips were going for $40 USD at a time back in those days. It was the most expensive tip to have.

I believe he reduced the number of layers and used a slightly lighter coloured leather, which suggested to me that he had changed how the leather was treated on his second generation tips.

A lot of companies were copying Moori tips making their own brand of laminated tips--but nothing came close to the consistency and durability of Moori.

Moori M was the most popular tips but they still did not hold chalk very well. A lot of player had to use a tool called a tip pik to create little pores on the surface for the tip to hold chalk.

The problem of hardness vs durability with laminated tips is that if they do not press the layers very well the layers might separate; however, if they press the layers too much, then the tip would become very hard to hold chalk. It is therefore very difficult to create a good "soft" laminated tip.

From the beginning, the biggest selling points of Moori tips have been its ability to hold its shape over time (which in turns allows the player to feel that he can impart more spin on the ball because the doom shape is retained better), and how consistent they are from tip to tip. All the layers are pretty even, of more or less the same firmness, and are very predictable and consistent from tip to tip.

Pool players in the US hit their shots harder so a harder tip is preferred. As they hit the ball harder the tip would deform faster, so durability is a big concern. Moori addressed these issues when he created his tips. It has been very well received by players and has been copied by many companies since its introduction in the US many years ago.

By the time Moori changed to the current blister package in a blue box, there were many laminated tips on the market, and pro snooker player were also starting to try out laminated tips.

However, almost all these companies focused on making their tips very durable and consistent, as that was how Moori started his laminated tips fever in the US in the first place. They are very concerned about delamination and mushrooming of their tips, so they try to put many layers on their tips to hold their shape, and press them very hard to make sure they don't delaminate.

Moori tips are almost like a standard that people would use to measure other tips against. It is therefore only natural that other companies would try very hard to make their tips as durable and lamination-resistant as possible--just like a Moori.

Going back to the original question, I would say laminated tip has the advantage of not only being more durable and consistent but the layers can each compress and re-coil upon impact, which is something a pressed tip cannot offer.

Also, no matter how good a pressed tip might feel at first, over time it is bound to feel harder--which is why a lot of players only like their one piece tip in a certain height, as once it gets too hard it totally loses its feel.

With a laminated tip, the impact is distributed by several layers so each layer is only absorbing part of the impact.

With the Aurora tips, we use thicker layers than those found on other laminated tips. The thicker and yet more elastic leather layers allow each layer in the tip to re-coil upon impact, giving the cue ball a bit more spring and hence a more responsive hit, which is something you cannot get from a one piece tip, as the tip compresses and re-coils as a whole unit.

Unlike other tip companies, I do not focus on making another Moori tip. I wanted to design a snooker tip for the game of snooker. Unless you are playing on a very slow table, you never really need to hit your shot as hard as a US 9 ball player needs to on a routine basis. So, it makes no sense to me to design a tip like a Moori for the game of snooker anyway.

In closing, other than the above mentioned benefits of laminated tips vs pressed tips, I believe that the Aurora snooker tip--due to its much lesser glue lines and the use of a more elastic leather--has the additional benefits of a more responsive hit (thicker and more elastic layers), a better feel (more leather contact), holds chalk better(lesser glue lines), and easier to install as you can use the whole tip without trimming and wasting any layers.

Thank you for your patience in finish reading my novel.

Hope this has answered your questions.

[fattfreddie]

Yes

Like Terry, I received my new cue from Airin this week, and it's fitted with new tip. Unlike Terry, I am a terrible snooker player !!! I'll use it for the first time tonight in practice and I'll post news over the weekend.

Brett

p.s. Cue looks absolutely spectacular.