How to Select Best Cue Tips out of a Box

[JFD_IT]

I've read that a high percentage of elk master cue tips are rejected by players, maybe 10 to 20 out of a box of 50 are no good.
Can someone advise what they are looking for to determine which to keep and why?
Thanks

[thai_son22]

Scratch the tip with your thumb whilst the tip is to your ear so you can listen if the fibers seperate. I like ones that don't seperate. Find which suits you

[TooDark]

Just get yourself an ADR147 laminated tip and save the troublee

[Dave Walton]

It's preference, in a box of 50 you'll get mixed hardness of tips, some soft, some medium and some hard, I press my thumb nail into the side wall and if it sinks in easy it's very soft and most likely useless, if it barely marks the tip it'll be hard, and it's experience to judge the grades inbetween, I find its the best way to select the hardness of tip I want.

[Mark187187]

I stick my thumb nail in like Dave. I probably select 20 that i'd consider using out of a box of 50 and I give the rest away to a friend who firms them up in a clamp. Out of the 20 i keep, i probably keep half for myself and the other half I put on other peoples cues. There's a bit of a knack to sifting through these tips. I know someone who taps them of a table and selects what he wants by sound. Elks are annoyingly inconsistent, but you get 50 for the price of a kamui, so not so bad.

[Shockerz]

I've given up sticking my nail in as sometimes the surface doesn't give a decent reflection of what's inside.

A lot of time the outside of an Elk is medium hard to medium and when you reduce the diameter to fit the ferrule the tip consistency is totally different under the shell.

I just fit them now and it's lucky dip I find which reveals itself when you start to shape the tip.

[pottr]

How to Select Best Cue Tips out of a Box

Just buy a couple of mill bigger.

Use a sharp knife when cutting and burnish the **** out of it.

It'll firm up when you play with it for a bit anyway.

you'll know withing 15 minutes if the tip's bogus

[MrRottweiler]

I would buy a bunch of tips from the same box and then try them out because the clues are in the sound. I've never been able to work out if I prefer hard or soft tips and I go by how they sound when striking the cueball and how they hold chalk. I used to spend ages shaping but now I just put a 10mm tip on the 10mm cue and let the cueball striking shape it because I become much more consistent with it that way. I strike with the direction of the cue facing the same way everytime so I have to be careful not to make the tip uneven. By considering tip logevity it stops me playing over powered shots and I've had tips that wear down very fast and others that seem to be steel tipped both are from the same box.

[vmax]

Buy a box of 50 TS Long BA tips, they're all the same and all damn good, and this is from a lifetime Elk man.
Why is this on the newbies and introduction section anyway, coaching, lounge, tables, accessories, cues sections etc, the clue is in the name so post where appropriate.

[Derek savage]

Or buy a box of Grand tips and select the hardness you want with great consistency . Im playing with a medium and its a great tip..

[fkhan]

Buffalo diamond plus are a great alternative to Elks as they are far more consistent piece to piece but a little costler than Elks. Also, they are much taller and chalk infused too. Be advised that they need some initial knocking though.

To tell the hardness of the Elks, you scratch the side of the tip with your finger nail while its near your ear and listen to the sound which tells if it’s soft, medium or hard. The denser it is the tighter it will sound.

[acehead01]

I have had great luck with Grand Tips also. I use a medium which is a little hard but perfect for my still of play.
I put them on my friend's cues all the time.

[blahblah01]

Buy a box of 50 TS Long BA tips, they're all the same and all damn good

Yep, definitely the place to start and Tip Quest.....

[AmarZain]

I have had great luck with Grand Tips also. I use a medium which is a little hard but perfect for my still of play.
I put them on my friend's cues all the time.

I just purchased a cue not too long ago and it came with a Grand Tip

Very nice tip. It doesn't seem to be holding chalk too well though so will need to go at it with a tip picker/scuffer see if that helps

I am currently using Triangle chalk, how's yours with chalk and what chalk do you use?

[qc2]

My grand soft was great but as it wore I found it was taking less chalk, found myself scuffing the tip a lot. Gone back to pro granite now which though others have found difficult with throw, it works best for me