Need tips on tips!!

[Dragonsye]

Hi everyone!!

Ok, so since i live in Sri Lanka, the only option i have at the moment when re-tipping my cue is elkmaster. I really dont mind it, but the problem is the consistency.

I have a 10mm ferrule, so I recently bought a 11mm tip and cut it down, burnished it and so on. The tip played great as soon as i put it on, and i was able to (finally!!) get in 20+ breaks at regular intervals. But then after a few days, i started to lose the connection with the shot (by which I mean that the cue ball seemed to go at least SLIGHTLY off direction, at best) which meant that anything which was more than a few inches away from the cue ball was likely to miss the pocket (so often hitting the edge of the pocket!!). At first i thought that I was just having one of my bad days, but then when it continued (which is NOT usual) i started to doubt the tip. My fears seemed to be confirmed when i got a few accurate shots when i tapped the tip with the cue ball a little, and then the same thing started happening again.

So my question is this - is this because i have a bad tip, or is it that you have to reshape it after you bed it i.e. play it in?? This particular tip seemed a bit off anyways (there was a funny "cardboard edge" kind of sound when i chalked it) so i replaced it, but would really appreciate comments for future reference. Thanks!!

[willytan]

Why dun u try other tips like mike supertips, Omin multi-layered tip, kamui Snooker tips and so on.....
They are readily available thru the net. E-bayer such as ADR147 has many various tip.
Layered tips can be more consistent incomparable to ELK Master tip. It also very much dependent on the density of tip used.
I m currently using a Kamui black tip, the tip is slightly harder than those vise cramp tip but it definitely requires some time to get use to the hardness.

[ferret]

http://www.thesnookerforum.com/board...ad.php?t=11834

[subkulture]

hi there dragonsye,

i have been reading on this forum quite some time now and this is my first time posting..
hope you guys wont attack me on my first post

what i normally do with my cue tips 11mm(Blue Diamond & elkmaster) is to bench clamp them and compress them very tightly into the size/height i need for about 1 day .

then i would get a lighter/fire and heat the tip up on the 2nd day to retract the insides of the tip (just heat it up and not burn it) and then tighten the clamp slightly more and leave it for the 3rd day...

then on the 3rd day i remove it from the clamp sand the base and stick it on and cut and bla bla bla as you would re-tipping a cue.....

then after sanding your cue into the shape that you are happy with.....take it for a couple of shots or a game with a lighter and sand paper along.....after that couple of shots/game.....sand just the surface of the tip to remove the chalk on it and slightly heat the tip up again....and you are good to go for about 4-5 months...

i usually change mine every 3 and a half months for my own peace of mind...

give it a try...the clamping does wonders....

[subkulture]

sorry for double posting but i cant seem 2 edit my post...
NOTE*
*When heating the tip up on the 2nd day, it is left on the clamp and not removed from it to be heated.

[poolqjunkie]

When you pick out an elk, you may want to try pressing the side of the elk master to test for the right firmness before you install it.
I do not think a tip would cause your ball to go off line on its own, be it a good or poor one, within reasons that is.
But if you do not like how the tip feels, then you may start to miss all sorts of shots, because they just dont "feel" right.
This could be due to the tip being too soft/hard for your likings.
I would suggest that you change your tip, perhaps to a firmer Elk master if that is all you have. Try to pick a firmer one from the box.
I have tried to microwave the tip for one minute before I installed it and it helped a lot in terms of making it firmer.
Hope this helps.

[Dragonsye]

Thanks guys! Oh, so the heating thing really works,huh? Must try that!

I've gotten a nice peradon 9mm, so no 10mm 4 me anymore!:-) i was watching a snooker vid the other day, and realized that John Higgins and Ronnie O'sullivan both have very short tips! I'm starting to think that i keep too much height, which is why it mushrooms out of shape so easily! I will definitely try the heating thing, because i can't seem to use a tip for more than 2 months! Just changed my tip since last month, i think! So will definitely try heating the next. Any ideas about the height?

[subkulture]

i like mine about 5 mm...

[hatterboard]

spoke to someone a while ago, an someone they know, soaks the elk tip overnight in milk then bakes it.

[Shanghai Matt]

spoke to someone a while ago, an someone they know, soaks the elk tip overnight in milk then bakes it.

i tried out soaking an elk in milk for a few hours, then left it in a vice for a couple of days. the result was just a very hard elk - using it on my pool break cue at the moment, but not sure i'd want to play with it properly. if you like water buffalo tips bit are too stingy to buy them then this might be an idea though.

[hatterboard]

no need, the granite pro from green biaze (10mm) is the way if yer want a really hard tip.

[poolqjunkie]

Are you looking for something VERY hard, or just a bit firmer and more consistent?

[Mike P]

When you pick out an elk, you may want to try pressing the side of the elk master to test for the right firmness before you install it.
I do not think a tip would cause your ball to go off line on its own, be it a good or poor one, within reasons that is.
But if you do not like how the tip feels, then you may start to miss all sorts of shots, because they just dont "feel" right.
This could be due to the tip being too soft/hard for your likings.
I would suggest that you change your tip, perhaps to a firmer Elk master if that is all you have. Try to pick a firmer one from the box.
I have tried to microwave the tip for one minute before I installed it and it helped a lot in terms of making it firmer.
Hope this helps.

I am always willing to experiment and will give that a try. Have you ever tried soaking them in milk, then compressing them?

Mike

[haz_pro]

i like the elk tips how ever i would like to try a different tip one day.

[Dragonsye]

No, not a HARD tip... Just a firmer and more consistent one....

Was wondering if lessening the height means that it will mushroom less, and therefore be more consistent?? I couldn't take my cue to the club today, and i played with a house cue, and the tip was ALMOST off... The edge of the ferrule was showing!! I know thats WAYY too much, but it did not seem to affect the action on the cue ball. And infact i think the acute dome got MORE spin on the ball!! So was just wondering if lessening my tip height to about 2.5-3mm would help???