Looking forward to a Tip on the Tip

[Sidd]

OK so there is a concern that keeps bugging me. I would appreciate any suggestions, advice from you guys. I am sure Terry would also participate and let me know through his experience what could be done.

One can never overlook the importance of a proper tip that should be not too hard not too soft. I would prefer something like that as I really cant play with hard ones. Anyway, my tip these days seem pretty old and sort of used. I have a bad problem that sometimes if I am not playing well I unintentionally try to sand it thinking that perhaps the dome shae is not there perfectly or maybe its out of axis from one side and end up sanding it small and then decreasing its life. Like last night I wasn't able to play properly and also did play three miscued shots. Now I normally never mis cue no matter if I am playing a screw deep screw power shot or side spin swerve etc whatever. Yes I am good at that really and my tendency for miscuing could be like once in 1000 shots or even beyond. So mis cueing last night three times in 6 frames means something. Is it an indication that I need to change the tip? Or would that have to do something with the dome shape and should I sand it?

My tip right now is half or roughly less than half the height it used to be when it was new. So...

[hotpot]

Personally i dont like a tip thats too round , i prefer a nice domed shape tip . If you want to try a tip thats nott too hard and is a nice playing tip with little maintenance and is inexpensive i would recommend the Blue Diamond plus water buffalo tip . Once bedded in it really is a nice tip which the chalk adheres to brilliantly .

I,ve tried most tips that are readily available to me and these are the best value for money tips i,ve come across . If you want to spend more then i would give the phoenix tips a try but they are much dearer .

[KevinMA]

Hi hotpot, would you please kindly let me know how would the phoenix tip compare to talisman medium? I fancy to try one or mike's laminated tip.

[hotpot]

The phoenix is softr than the Tally medium i would say its between a Tally soft and a Kumui soft /medium . As far as laminated tips go its the best for chalk retention and requirers little maintenance . Strange when first fitted but once bedded in it hold its shape really well and the feel is consistent .

[KevinMA]

Thanks hotpot. I will get some phoenix medium from craftmans next time

[hotpot]

Thanks hotpot. I will get some phoenix medium from craftmans next time

I would just buy one for now and see how you fair with it , as with everything its just my personal opinion so as long as you bear that in mind, when members recommend cues , tips etc its just their opinion and is very subjective .

[Terry Davidson]

Sidd:

First point is don't sand your tip as sandpaper is made of crushed glass and you might leave some in the tip which will chew it apart or the other point is damage the cueball. Always use a fine file such as one of those metal fingernail files you can buy at a drugstore.

Secondly, try different tips as I have to see what type of tip you prefer. Right now I'm using a Talisman Soft which I really like, but I also like the Kamui Black MH (although after a bit of time they seem to go off) and the Phoenix M Black which seems to hold up well. I also like the Aurora layered tip and use that frequently too.

I do not use Blue Elk or Blue Diamonds as I prefer a slightly harder tip and also those I found I had to re-shape all the time.

Don't worry about the type of dome you have as that is really a matter of personal preference. Some players like flat tips and some like a severe dome. I prefer a good dome, somewhat like the end of my baby finger

Terry

[KevinMA]

I would just buy one for now and see how you fair with it , as with everything its just my personal opinion so as long as you bear that in mind, when members recommend cues , tips etc its just their opinion and is very subjective .

I understand that I will never know what I prefer until I try it. Just wanted to know whether the phoenix tip worth the money. Thank you very much

[hotpot]

The Kamui gator is a reall good tool , expensive but will last for years , when it clogs a bit just run it under the tap and get the bits out with your nails and its back to new again . Its great for taking the edges off tips as its designed in a way that it does,nt touch the ferrule at all .

[matt926_uk]

i tried loads of tips over the summer trying to find my perfect tip and was unhappy with all of them to be honest. I spoke to a semi-professional who is a friend of a friend and he just uses elk masters so i tried them again. The first two i put on were nice tips, i got some good breaks but they were going out of shape so i tried another one, and this one is perfect. not too hard or soft and hasnt gone out of shape at all in the past month, got my highest break last week and i don't even think about my tip any more which is how it should be. I'm pretty sure you can find a good blue diamond as well, just maybe might take a few before you get a good one. I found Talisman softs to be useless, went out of shape and i couldnt get enough spin on the ball. Talisman hards and mediums i found horrible to play with because they were too hard. Mike wooldridges super tips were o.k, expensive and not really any better than elks to be honest. Havnt tried kamui so cannot comment. A good tip should last you months and you wont need to keep sanding it, good luck finding one!

[Sidd]

Sidd:

First point is don't sand your tip as sandpaper is made of crushed glass and you might leave some in the tip which will chew it apart or the other point is damage the cueball. Always use a fine file such as one of those metal fingernail files you can buy at a drugstore.

Secondly, try different tips as I have to see what type of tip you prefer. Right now I'm using a Talisman Soft which I really like, but I also like the Kamui Black MH (although after a bit of time they seem to go off) and the Phoenix M Black which seems to hold up well. I also like the Aurora layered tip and use that frequently too.

I do not use Blue Elk or Blue Diamonds as I prefer a slightly harder tip and also those I found I had to re-shape all the time.

Don't worry about the type of dome you have as that is really a matter of personal preference. Some players like flat tips and some like a severe dome. I prefer a good dome, somewhat like the end of my baby finger

Terry

Thanks a lot Terry I guess you picked my point correctly and came up with the best advice, as usual. I shall see if I can get my hands on the layered ones you mentioned. Cant find them easily here but it would be worth a try. The only commonly available ones are Elkmasters and Blue Diamond and yes you are very very right; those require shaping and reshaping all the time. Such a bother. Its great that you mentioned not to worry too much about the dome thing, I can relax with what I have now and yes its just a slight hump like the little finger so I should keep that out of my mind thank God as I already have a lot on it; you know what I mean Coach haha

Cheers!

[Terry Davidson]

Sidd:

You can order any type of tips via the internet and get them mailed to you. Green Baize has a selection as does ADR147 on here, Dave Coutts Cues is another website with a good choice and you can also order layered tips from Aurora Cues, who make quite a good one. Talisman and Kamui are fairly expensive and the Phoenix layered are a bit expensive. Pro Granite tip are compressed ones and they don't need a lot of shaping either.

Terry

[matt926_uk]

sidd,
you said that you don't like hard tips in your original post, well layered tips are all really hard, even talisman soft are still pretty hard. with blue diamond and elk master you might find a few that are too soft and go out of shape, but once you get a good one, you wont need to continually keep shaping it. I havnt touched mine for over a month, and it cost 50p. And you want a gentle dome to your tip, not too flat nor too domed, that way you can maximise the surface area of the ball that is in contact with the tip. tip height is also a factor, thicker tips will feel softer, and tips close to the ferrule will feel harder because there is less tip to compress

[matt926_uk]

sorry, i may have been confused between laminated and layered tips. Laminated are talisman and kamui etc and layered are elks and blue diamonds etc. Laminated are the hard ones made of layers of leather

[hotpot]

Laminated / layered are the same tips , elks etc are referred to as pressed tips .