Tips fraying around edge...

[safe t boy]

Hi all.

My last tip ended in a pretty bad mess due to a number of massive miscues. I play English 8 ball and during practice I had been experimenting with how much top I could get on the cue ball by hitting as near the top edge as possible. After a while I noticed the tip had began to fragment around the edge and small pieces had come off.

I changed the tip and noticed the wood in the center of the ferrule is lower than the outer edge of the metal. Like there is a dip in the middle. I thought this was a bit odd so tried to flatten it off a bit with a file. I didn't go all the way as I was worried about the top of the ferrule being off straight. There was still a slight dip when I had finished. I went ahead and put a new tip on making sure i applied plenty of pressure so the center of the tip made contact with the wood.

Now I have noticed the tip is beginning to fray around the edges again. I can see fibers 'lifting' on the edge of the tip. The thing is I havent had a single miscue with this new tip.

I may be answering my own question here but is this due to the 'dip' in the end of my cue where the outer edge of the ferrule is higher than the wood in the center? Is it the case that the tip is being sort of cut buy the sharp edge of the ferrule each time I use side screw or top spin?

[cally]

You need to burnish the edges of the tip bud..

The dip is nowt to do with the fraying imo, although you should take the cue to a cue doctor to sort that 'dip' out asap...

[safe t boy]

Thanks man. Whats the best way to burnish it?

Will get the ferrule sorted out asap. I know a bloke down the road with a full size lathe in his garage.

[cally]

You can use lots of things to burnish the tip bud, brown paper, a piece of leather etc.

If it's frayed up quite badly, get some very fine grit paper and sand the edges as smooth as you can get and then get a piece of brown paper (envelope will do) and wrap around the edges and spin the cue with a firm (ish) grip and spin cue to create a bit of heat.

Jobs a goodun.

[safe t boy]

Just done a bit of tidying up. Burnt of the frayed fibres with a lighter then gently sanded with a worn peice of 240 grit wrapped around the ferrule. Then burnished with leather. Side of tip is dark and shiny now. Looks great. Thanks cally

[cally]

Happy daze...

But don;t forfet to get that dip sorted man....

[safe t boy]

Will do

[rongreen]

You can use lots of things to burnish the tip bud, brown paper, a piece of leather etc.

If it's frayed up quite badly, get some very fine grit paper and sand the edges as smooth as you can get and then get a piece of brown paper (envelope will do) and wrap around the edges and spin the cue with a firm (ish) grip and spin cue to create a bit of heat.

Jobs a goodun.

Cally, at the qualifiers for the World Champs at Institute of Sport I watched Lu Song rubbing his cue horizontally on the bottom cush near the green pocket, at the time I wondered if thats what he was doing, he seemed to do it after every frame.
Would that do the same job?

[safe t boy]

Just got in from a session with my mate Ash (won 12 - 8 from 6-2 down. I guess the 'dip' in form got resolved in the end )

I noticed the tip fraying up during the game. The fibers on the outer edge of the tip were lifting up again. I had my piece of leather in my cue case so I re-burnished the tip about 3 times. But after a while the fibers would come out again. I even made sure I was burnishing the tip in the same direction that I spin the cue when I chalk up. Not sure what to do or whats causing it.

On a positive note I noticed the feel of the tip when hitting the ball seems a bit nicer when its nicely burnished. Especially when playing a shot with any kind of spin.

The tip is a Diamond plus if that's relevant. Also I use a worn piece of 240 grit to flush the tip to the ferrule after trimming with a knife. The knife doesn't have a fresh blade though. Maybe I need to use a better blade and a lighter grade paper?

[stejohn]

I think whats happing is when your using screw the tip is repeatedly rubbing against the cloth and that is pulling the fibres out the side of the tip, burnish again with brown paper or fresh note(make sure ink has dried;-) and try to keep the cue a few mm of the bed of the table, see if that stops it.