Elkmaster tip quality

[Philip126]

Has anybody had any trouble with elkmaster tips lately,just brought a box put about five on my cue and all are very soft and do not bed in at all!

[kadobau]

There are plenty of fake in the market !!!!!

[matt926_uk]

Ive had no problems bar the odd one, maybe its your trimming method

[Chappy5]

I have had plenty of Elk master tips and i am not a fan honestly. I just don't like the feel of them and the strike you get on the Cue ball, i know many love them and that is fine but they are not for me.

Every one i have had has been genuine to and they are on most Cue's i have bought but before to long i find myself cutting them off and sticking another on!!!

[Philip126]

What trimming method do you use?

[Neil Taperell]

I have had plenty of Elk master tips and i am not a fan honestly. I just don't like the feel of them and the strike you get on the Cue ball, i know many love them and that is fine but they are not for me.

Every one i have had has been genuine to and they are on most Cue's i have bought but before to long i find myself cutting them off and sticking another on!!!

You need to get Trevor White to fit them ........mine's still going strong , been on for 5 months .

[Thinslice]

yes had problems with them for a good while ,there so inconsistent,i said on another thread they used to be thinner than the blue diamoud tips .Some one told me they have changed the manufacturing processe.

[SouthPaw]

I wouldn't look past buffalo diamond plus by Tweetens given the choice, nice firm tip which i feel comfortable with on all shots. Mike Wooldridge supertips are also a pretty good alternative to the old elk master...

[matt926_uk]

i use a scalpel with a brand new blade every time (they are cheap), I turn the cue vertical and trim down carefully slicing a little at a time, then when sanding only sand downwards so not to seperate the fibres. I dont think stanley blades are sharp enough. Most elk masters i put on turn out nice and firm this way however there are still some soft ones which might be usefull for players who want a soft tip. In a box of elk masters there are hard, medium and soft, i can't tell which is which until ive trimmed them. They are so cheap though i dont mind having to discard a few, its just a hassle to have to retip again.

[Dave Walton]

i use a scalpel with a brand new blade every time (they are cheap), I turn the cue vertical and trim down carefully slicing a little at a time, then when sanding only sand downwards so not to seperate the fibres. I dont think stanley blades are sharp enough. Most elk masters i put on turn out nice and firm this way however there are still some soft ones which might be usefull for players who want a soft tip. In a box of elk masters there are hard, medium and soft, i can't tell which is which until ive trimmed them. They are so cheap though i dont mind having to discard a few, its just a hassle to have to retip again.

Simple trick to judging the hardness is to try and dig your thumbnail into the sidewall of the tip, if it barely leaves a mark it'll be hard and if it sinks in fairly easy its soft, use your own judgement for medium.
Personally never had many problems with elks, odd one or two are too soft and the fibres come apart but very rarely unlike Brunswick blue diamonds which just don't have enough binding solution in them, quality of them now is terrible. As mentioned above the Buffalo Diamond Plus tips are very good

[coomsey76]

You need to get Trevor White to fit them ........mine's still going strong , been on for 5 months .

I'm with you on that bud..... Trevor put a top quality tip my TW when I received it!!

Philip maybe you should get a tip press, my mate has recently bought one and all his Elks are coming out spot on......

[Neil Taperell]

Had 3 TW's Jimmy and on everyone the tip has been spot on .

[SouthPaw]

Elkmaster tip quality

I don't think it's too hard to pick out good elks if you follow a testing method like the scratch test... given time you'll become very good at separating soft, medium and hard, understandable cue makers are excellent at picking out "good elk's"!

[les147]

Always compress an elk before fitting

[frazz]

U should do what someone else said, dig your nail in very hard and if it doesnt make a mark or only lightly scores it then it should be a good tip, if i can dig my nail in at all i tend to leave these tips for club cues, i tend to look for tips that have a nice shiny side and no visible cracks or pimples on the surface, these tend to be better and . Always use a sharp blade to do tips also