Tip conditioning

[throtts]

Just wondered how many of you guys re file your tip after a session of snooker, to roughen it up. Or do you just leave it alone. My elkmaster looses it nice dome shape after a knock so I feel it needs a quick condition..

[pottr]

I think that's just a problem with pressed tips throughout buddy.

They don't hold their shape for two long. I usually just leave it until there's the risk it might start to overhang then I'll address it. Otherwise I find I have to change it every month.

I'm back on the MW's as they hold their shape a bit longer.

[gazza147]

As Pottr said above that is the problem with pressed tips dont hold there shape that long and More you mess about Quicker you will need to change them.

I fit alot of Tips every week and when i do my brothers his doesnt last long as he takes them down alot nearly to ferrule straight away so his Only lasts few weeks if lucky! I keep telling him to stop doing it and i noticed he miss cues alot as he has no body left in the Tip as taken too far down.

I have Used Most Tips and Yes MW Super Tips are Good as they seem as they have been played in already but have noticed they seem to go quite shiney on top very quickly similar to Elks!

The New Blue Diamond Plus Tips are great they are quite high and need taking down a good bit but I have fitted around 30+ of these and Only Had one that I wasnt Happy with which is Great as normal Blue Diamond Tips you may have to fit 2-3 before you get a Good one sometimes More!

I have just tried the MW Laminated Super Tip on my Snooker Cue at first it was like hitting the Cue Ball without a Tip!...lol.. But its just getting used to them i suppose so im leaving it on and gonna try all the Laminated Tips in the Next Few Months and will tell people my Opinion on them all.

[Neil Taperell]

Hi Gareth ,

I've got an Elk on my cue . Had it on since i bought my cue from Robert Osborne . Noticed that it has gone really soft . I've never noticed this before ......is this common with elks ?

I will be getting an MW Supertip on it later this week .

[gazza147]

Hi Neil Pressed Tips there are many problems and Mostly from the Time they are Fitted? I have put 5 Elks on before because I wasnt happy with the 4 before hand. Elks, Blue Diamonds and other Pressed Tips there are quite alot of flaws in them more These Days than before as Mass Produced and sometimes takes 2,3,4 Tips to get a Good One. I check every Tip I fit and try them before I hand the Cue back so i know there 100% as im a Fussy Bugger....lol

Mw Super Tips the Pressed Ones are Very Good as i said above as they seem like they been on for weeks! But as I said they do go quite shiney and need alittle Refreshing now and then.

[Neil Taperell]

Cheers Gareth , it's bee on a good few months but i've never really noticed an Elk go as soft as this one has . Been fine up till now .

[trevs1]

Seeing as I'm having a cuppa and have a spare ten minutes to throw in my view....

Perhaps to offer a little more perspective on this.....

Any tip "can" be fine, but it does depend on the cue it's being fitted to, and the person it's being fitted for. Some players like a firmer sound on the contact, while some like a softer, more cushioned sound. Now, the problem here is that each cue has its own individual contact sound, and so while putting a firmer tip on might make it sound firmer, if it happens to be a cue which has a very firm contact sound naturally, then firm tips "might" feel like you've just glued a pebble onto the end of your cue. Not nice at all.

To suggest that one tip is the best tip would be massively misleading for people who read this, and quite frankly, it would be wrong.

For any pressed tips, such as Elkmasters, the secret is in the selection of them. If you don't know what you're looking at, then you have a problem, but conversely, if you do know what you're looking at, then they're as good as ANYTHING available. If they were no good, players would not have played the standard of snooker they have done over the years using them. I'd wager that more major ranking events have been won using Elkmaster tips than ANY OTHER brand, by an absolute mile. Furthermore, some of the greatest snooker ever witnessed has been played using these tips, so to slate them blindly is foolish. Lets get some perpective here, if advice is going to be offered, it needs to be done with critical thinking and balance.

To the OP......

By sanding or reshaping your tip every time you play, you are just sanding out the natural "wearing in" of your tip, and are in fact sanding out the correct shape of it in all probability. If you hold your cue in the same position for each shot, so you're sighting down the exact same part of grain on the shaft, tips will always wear more on the side which faces at 12 O'clock when you're cueing over the table...fact. This is simply because that is the point on the tip which contacts the cueball at the bottom (when playing with screw etc). This tip to white contact is heavier against the tip than when the ball is struck high (for topspin shots). It's pretty simple physics when you think on it.

Run this one by your head and give it a moments thought.

If you wanted to push a large heavy metal ball (one which you only barely have the strength to move) along a flat surface, would it feel easier to move when you pushed it forward nearer the top, or when you tried to push it forward from close the bottom.???....you see what I'm getting at.???

The same principle is at play when you strike that cueball with your cue, over and over again.

The wear that the tip suffers at the 12 O'clock point is normal, and is not to be worried over (unless it starts to overhang the ferruel by much) If you keep sanding it out, you'll be making no difference to how the cue plays, and will only have to change your tip sooner.

[pottr]

Cracking post.

[gazza147]

Seeing as I'm having a cuppa and have a spare ten minutes to throw in my view....

Perhaps to offer a little more perspective on this.....

Any tip "can" be fine, but it does depend on the cue it's being fitted to, and the person it's being fitted for. Some players like a firmer sound on the contact, while some like a softer, more cushioned sound. Now, the problem here is that each cue has its own individual contact sound, and so while putting a firmer tip on might make it sound firmer, if it happens to be a cue which has a very firm contact sound naturally, then firm tips "might" feel like you've just glued a pebble onto the end of your cue. Not nice at all.

To suggest that one tip is the best tip would be massively misleading for people who read this, and quite frankly, it would be wrong.

For any pressed tips, such as Elkmasters, the secret is in the selection of them. If you don't know what you're looking at, then you have a problem, but conversely, if you do know what you're looking at, then they're as good as ANYTHING available. If they were no good, players would not have played the standard of snooker they have done over the years using them. I'd wager that more major ranking events have been won using Elkmaster tips than ANY OTHER brand, by an absolute mile. Furthermore, some of the greatest snooker ever witnessed has been played using these tips, so to slate them blindly is foolish. Lets get some perpective here, if advice is going to be offered, it needs to be done with critical thinking and balance.

To the OP......

By sanding or reshaping your tip every time you play, you are just sanding out the natural "wearing in" of your tip, and are in fact sanding out the correct shape of it in all probability. If you hold your cue in the same position for each shot, so you're sighting down the exact same part of grain on the shaft, tips will always wear more on the side which faces at 12 O'clock when you're cueing over the table...fact. This is simply because that is the point on the tip which contacts the cueball at the bottom (when playing with screw etc). This tip to white contact is heavier against the tip than when the ball is struck high (for topspin shots). It's pretty simple physics when you think on it.

Run this one by your head and give it a moments thought.

If you wanted to push a large heavy metal ball (one which you only barely have the strength to move) along a flat surface, would it feel easier to move when you pushed it forward nearer the top, or when you tried to push it forward from close the bottom.???....you see what I'm getting at.???

The same principle is at play when you strike that cueball with your cue, over and over again.

The wear that the tip suffers at the 12 O'clock point is normal, and is not to be worried over (unless it starts to overhang the ferruel by much) If you keep sanding it out, you'll be making no difference to how the cue plays, and will only have to change your tip sooner.

Trevor if this is Towards me mate where in that Post of Mine Do I say "THE BEST TIP" As I havent as I say to Many People everyday when Buying Tips or Cues even its Personal Preference, As you know I do suggest to Most people who's after a Cue to Contact You as I have Tried Most Cues on the Market and I wouldnt Say any of them are Better than Yours if anything Not as Good as Yours! thats why I recommend so many to you as you know.

And Tips are the same what Suits me may not suit you as its Personal Preference some like Soft Pressed Tips some like Harder Tips Inc: Laminated, But I was just giving my Personal Opinion on Tips that I am fitting Regularly and Notice what Happens to the Majority of them in time and how they feel.

Gaz.

[Mark62]

Where can i buy good Elks from please ?
regards
Mark

[DeanH]

ADR147 on here sells Elkmaster tips, he has an ebay shop as well (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/ADR147-Snoo...-pool-Supplies). PM him
but there are many places that also do them

[throtts]

I have purchased my first batch of Elks from John Parrott Cue Sports. Used 2 so far and are of good performance. I will give ADR147 a go next..

[throtts]

And to all the above input, thank you so much. Had a session yesterday evening and I did not re shape my damn Elk. I am too much of a perfectionist, thats the problem. When I am done I always give my shaft a good rub.

[stejohn]

edit, wrong post lol

[throtts]

Ooooops, yea, that one too...haha.