Talisman tip fitting advice?

[itsnoteasy]

burnish the top?

yep, got that tip from ADR, it works a treat. He sold me my twenty pound note for thirty pound plus postage, bargain!!!!!!!!!!!!.

[luke-h]

yep, got that tip from ADR, it works a treat. He sold me my twenty pound note for thirty pound plus postage, bargain!!!!!!!!!!!!.

haha i tried it earlier and it does seem to work lol.....and you got a deal there normally twenties go for fifties haha

[Cateran]

I’ve used Talisman Pro tips for 5 years now, I'm quite happy with them. I find them to be incredibly stable (they do not mushroom) and once you’ve domed the tip, you don’t have to touch them again until it's time to change to a new tip. Over the time I’ve used them, I’ve only had one tip de-laminate. And I think it was me that caused the problem, I believe I was way too heavy-handed with the sandpaper. Since then, I don’t fool around with them once I’ve trimmed them down and adjusted the dome to the way I like it.

A couple of thoughts:

First thing is, I would go very easy with the sandpaper. If you’re going to use sandpaper on Talismans, then only sand with the direction of the laminations. Do not sand against the laminations, ever. I daresay that sanding against the laminations might just cause the outermost edges of the individual laminations to “fray”. To be honest, I go very easy with sandpaper around Talismans.

Second, when you’re cutting down a newly fitted tip, again, do not cut against the grain of the laminations. So if you’re turning your cues tip down and trimming downward with an X-acto knife, then you’re putting a lot of stress on the laminations, and no wonder they’re de-laminating. It doesn’t matter how sharp the blade is, you’re forcing you way through the laminations and weakening them.

For the guy that’s using a pencil sharpener to cut down an oversize tip, you’re on the right track. When I first bought some Talisman tips I asked Tony what was the best way of cutting oversize tips down and he recommended a Porper Mushroom Grazer. The tool works much like a pencil sharpener, it trims the tips flush to the ferrule without cutting against the laminations. The tool is specifically designed to trim tips and it also has a depth adjustment so you don’t damage the ferrule.

The other tool I use is a dime-radius tip shaper. This tool, unlike sandpaper, will not shed grit into the glue lines.