Tipping Advice

Hi; Hope this tipping avice and pricing helps. Thanks for asking and feel free to call or email with any questions. Were always happy to help. Bob

A quick note on phenolic cue tips. They are difficult to stay on without the correct glue. We recommend a slow setting epoxy or contact cement. Gorilla glue works well. Let the glue set up overnight before trimming or usine to get the best bond possible.

Hello; This should help make it an easier and more professional job putting your tips on. There are also a few tips about protecting your cue when you put the tips on and some little short cuts. I will give you a quick rundown on how I put the tips on when I am out and about. It works excellent and is fast.It usually takes about 10-15 minutes when you get the hang of it. I'll probably save this so I have another copy so don't get offended it some of the stuff in it is real basic. The basic supplies I use you can get at any walmart are super glue jel or locktite jel, some fine sand paper like the packs for doing auto body work. 400-600-800-1000-1500 grit. Single edged rasor blades and scotch tape and a tip clamp. A small 3x5 sheet of paper is also good to have. I always wrap my ferrule with some scotch tape before I start working on them to keep from scratching the ferrule by accident.

Take the 3x5 paper and wrap the end of the cue up to the scotch tape and tape it down. This keeps the clamp form indenting the shaft when you tighten the clamp on the tip.
Next I trim the old tip off with a single edge rasor blade like the ones you get for window scrapers.
Then I sand the top of the ferrule flat with a rapid cue top sander or a flat piece of sand paper.
Now sand the bottom of the tip flat also so you get a nice tight bond between the tip and ferrule.
Put a little of the super glue jel on the tip and some on the ferrule also. Swirl it so it covers good and let it set up for about 5-10 seconds then place the tip on the ferrule and clamp it real good.
Once you have it clamped good turn the shaft end to the floor and give it a good solid push on the floor and hold it for about 10 seconds. This gives the tip a real solid bond to the ferrule.
Now I usually let it sit for about 5 minutes to be sure the glue is set up real well. The nice thing about using the super glue jel is that it sets fast and solid and isn't messy. It also fills any tiny gaps in.
Now your ready to trim the tip. I lay the shaft across my lap and roll it back and forth with one hand while holding the sand paper or trimmer with the other. (if you're like me the sanding gets old real fast and you spend a few bucks on a porper trimmer, They work great!!). Rolling the shaft back and forth is easy to do and works like a mini lathe. Once you do a few this way its easy to get a nice round tip that is even with the ferrule.
When you are done trimming the tip down its time to burnish the sides real good. You do this by using something like the porper burnisher or the smooth side of the sand paper. First take a small amount of the glue and put it on your finger tip and seal the sides of the tip. It doesn't take much so go sparing and try not to get any on the hitting surface of the tip.
Now take the burnisher or paper and buff the outside of the tip to a nice smooth gloss.
Next remove the tape and you can use the 800 grit paper to clean up the ferrule and smooth the tip to the ferrule one last time.
Now your ready to shape the tip the way you like it.
One last hint. The more surface that contacts the ball the more controll you will have. A nickle radius is good for most shooters. If it feels like you are getting too far under the ball (scooping it) or getting too much throw on your shots you may want to go to a slightly larger radius on the end of your tip or a harder tip. It usually takes about 10 games to get a real good feel for a tip. Especially if you are changing brands of tips or hardnesses. Don't go out expecting to smoke em with a brand new tip on. Thanks Bob

On the tipping supplies I would suggest the porper mushroom grazer $15.95 for trimming the tips. The porper burnisher $5.95. The easiest to use and best all around shaper/scuffer would be the williard universal for $13.95 , willard dime or nickle shaper $5.95.. It has a nickle or dime radius gauge on it and is small enough to put in your cue case. It give the tips an excellent shape without taking off too much tip and is fast and easy to use. For a ferrule flattener I use the cue top sander. They are quality made solid medal and reasonably priced at $10.95. As far as glue goes I recomend you go Tweeten tip cement for $2.50 or tiger tip cement in the large bottle for $9.95 Its cheap, sets fast, fills any micro gaps, isn't messy and I have never had a tip pop off or not get a solid bond since I started using it. Last but not least the tweeten clamps work great and are inexpencive $2.50.

I think that just about covers everything. The tools I recomended are all high quality and will last a lifetime, easy to use and do a very professional looking job. You will be very pleased and save a ton in the long run doing your own tips with them and can even make a few bucks by doing some of your buddies. I charge $20 for putting on my top quality tips and $15- for standard and less expensive layered tips. I have paid for all my tools many times over. These are the many of the same tools I use when I am out at league night or a tournament and need to put a tip on real quick. You can't tell the difference from having it done in my shop on a lathe. Hope this helps.

1st of all it sounds like you need some advice on the best tools to use for putting on and maintaining your cue tips. Right!! I use the tweeten rubber band style clamps $2.50 all the time because I use alot of clamps sometimes at once. They are cheap and do a decent job however there are better tip clamps like the porper clamp on the marker. If your looking for economy I would stick with the tweeten clamp. If you want a more precision tool try the porper tip clamp but they don't come cheap. The porper clamp and I have them for $15.25. Next for trimming tips I suggest the Porper Mushroom Grazer for $14.95 for trimming your tips and removing mushrooms. They do a great job even on the higher quality 14mm cue tips you will want. Next I would suggest the porper tip burnisher $5.95. They do a nice job of polishing the sides of the tips after you install it and help prevent mushrooming also. The true tip tip shaper is great inexpensive tip shaper $8.95 for doming your tips when you are finished. From there you want a decent scuffer and there are a bunch on the market. In my opinion the Porper shaper tacker is the best but most any will do and I imagine you already have at least 1. The willard nckle or dime styles are also very good. I suggest our SharpShooter cue cleaner $5.95 for cleaning your cues. You will be amazed at how excellent it works and it won't damage your shaft or the woods molecular composition like many of the ones on the marker with whiteners do. It also seals your shaft from chalk penitration and leaves it silky smooth. I would also suggest a good cue top sander for $10.95. They are a great time saver and give a flat smoot surfact to glue the cue tip to.

Generally speaking the more advanced a player is the more refined their stroke and accuracy is and they tend to move toward a firmer cue tip because they have refined their game and don't need to go to extremes. They rely more on a proper stroke. As for tips I would suggest an advanced player stay to a firmer cue tip for precision and accuracy. If you feel fairly confident in your stroke and are looking for accuracy I think you would be very happy with Our Super pro cue tip we like to use on break cues. Although this is a hard tip it is also an excellent playing cue tip and because they are so inexpensive it wouldn't hurt for you to try one and see how you like it on your playing cue. They give all the hold on the cueball an advanced player needs and are really a huge help for accurate long shots. If you prefer a slightly softer cue tip I would suggest our Black diamond med/hard tips. Just because a tip is firmer does not need to mean it will miscue more. A good quality layered waterbuffalo tip will have a coarse hide and hold spin excellent while giving great accuracy.

For a more novice player or if a player likes to use extreme spin and want a tip that will allow for an accurate hit without tending to miscue. I would suggest a cue tip like our Karomi med/soft or shooters medium. They are a more forgiving cue tip and don't tend to miscue easily. They tend to train a player to refine their stroke without having to go to extremes when learning how to use spin (english) also. These are great tips for a novice to intermediate player

As the player masters their stroke and ball speed they should consider moving to a slightly firmer tip as I mentioned above. We carry a wide variety of cue tips so we can help you find and try different cue tips untill you find that 1 cue tip that best works for you, your skill level and type of cue. I hope this bit of advice helped. It has been a pleasure. Please feel free to call or email for additional prices of info. I'm always happy to Help.