Tip Maintenance

[Maverick54]

Seen many youtube vids of tips being burnished on a lathe, but what gets the best results when done by hand? Never quite mastered that professional look.

[culraven]

ADR sells a teflon tool which works really well, but failing that a £20 note and a bit of patience.

[thelongbomber]

Seen many youtube vids of tips being burnished on a lathe, but what gets the best results when done by hand? Never quite mastered that professional look.

You can do something similar to a lathe by rolling your cue back and forth across your lap while holding whatever paper/gadget on the tip. I do this for super fine sandpaper and burnishing. Nothing will ever beat a lathe though.

[WelshPhantom]

Ill reach for the sandpaper when i miscue or i see the chalk is not sticking.

[thelongbomber]

Seen many youtube vids of tips being burnished on a lathe, but what gets the best results when done by hand? Never quite mastered that professional look.

I recently discovered that the pencil sharpener device for cue tips works wonders on making the tip sides smooth and looks very good.

[coomsey76]

I recently discovered that the pencil sharpener device for cue tips works wonders on making the tip sides smooth and looks very good.

Could you explain that a bit further please longbomb??

Surely the pencil sharper device is used for trimming the tip not burnishing it......

[Ramon]

How often do you mess with your tip?

Its shaped and bedded in, its playing all the shots and your happy with it. So when do you reach for the sandpaper?

Is it to scuff it up after a couple of miss cues? has it lost its shape?

Shouldnt a good tip last for many years or do they simply dry out through all the chalk and become dull hitting and useless?

I use this one : Ultra Smoother Top Cleaner

With the leather side of this cleaner maintenance can maximize the tip of your cue but also the rest of your shaft. By rubbing the leather side with a constant friction on the wood of the keutop the pores of the wood cut themselves off so that the fibers are closed. Nicely This makes for a nice smooth top and ensures that the chalk does not soak into the wood or the tip.
After I've used it. I grease the sides of the tip with a little B -wax or oil. This prevents the tip from drying uit. ( NOT FOR THE PRESS TIPS !!!!!!!!)
Not exactly a perfect advice, but it works for the tip i use. ( poor quality picture. Sorry ).

[thelongbomber]

Could you explain that a bit further please longbomb??

Surely the pencil sharper device is used for trimming the tip not burnishing it......

Yes, exactly. That's what I use it for. When you try a burnish a tip without a good side trim, there will be flat spots from the cut marks that occur when you use your blade. If you can get the tip sides to be trimmed properly, the burnishing step will look much better. As mentioned, some wax (I use shoe leather wax) will make the tip sides more resilient to fine hairs and splitting.

[Maverick54]

Yes, exactly. That's what I use it for. When you try a burnish a tip without a good side trim, there will be flat spots from the cut marks that occur when you use your blade. If you can get the tip sides to be trimmed properly, the burnishing step will look much better. As mentioned, some wax (I use shoe leather wax) will make the tip sides more resilient to fine hairs and splitting.

All makes perfect sense in theory. Never tried the pencil trimmer but would imagine it would have to be incredibly sharp to trim a tip flush with the ferrule without ripping the tip to shreads

[thelongbomber]

All makes perfect sense in theory. Never tried the pencil trimmer but would imagine it would have to be incredibly sharp to trim a tip flush with the ferrule without ripping the tip to shreads

Ya, that's the problem I have also. The sharpener I use has a screwed in blade which I remove and sharpen up on a piece of sandpaper every once in a while. It doesn't cut like a proper utility knife, but it's sharp enough to get the job done and do the final trim job on the sides. Layered tips seem to take this device better by the way.

[WelshPhantom]

I used a sharpener and took a bit of brass off mr ferulle

[thelongbomber]

I used a sharpener and took a bit of brass off mr ferulle

Brass is relatively soft compared to the titanium I'm using fitted locally here.

[coomsey76]

Yes, exactly. That's what I use it for. When you try a burnish a tip without a good side trim, there will be flat spots from the cut marks that occur when you use your blade. If you can get the tip sides to be trimmed properly, the burnishing step will look much better. As mentioned, some wax (I use shoe leather wax) will make the tip sides more resilient to fine hairs and splitting.

Ahhhhh right I see what your saying longbomb..... a good foundation for the burnishing!!

[Ramon]

I use the kamui gator grip tool, it's perfect to roughen the tip without taking too much of it.

http://youtu.be/GJ10K3FeYEw

I bought this Kamui Gator grip ,yesterday. I must say, they are not cheap but they are worth the money. it works perfectly. thanks for the advice.

[itsnoteasy]

I need to be taught about tips, I stick one on, and just ignore it. When should you start faffing around with them?