The tip tool
So as you play more and more you will find that your tip layered or single piece or synthetic will start to glaze over. This is a natural process of you hitting the cue ball over and over and the chalk getting ground into the tip as each time you hit the cue ball you compress the tip just a little bit more every time. That's just the nature of the beast.
There are so many tip tools out there to scuff and shape your tip and keep it consistent and hold chalk to the point where you don't have to over chalk the tip will glazes over. Some have a pic on them and others are shapers. Some shave the tip down as players feel that the best part of the tip is the last few layers. Whether that's true or not some players are focused on that aspect of their game.
This tip tool was a little hodge podge of all the better aspects of tip tools that are out there. At first glance it looks awesome and it does a lot of what it says. It has plastic make up and that's fine. The metal scuffing surface is exactly the same as the Kamui hater grip which is great because it doesn't take layers and layers of your tip off of your tip. You gotta think about it. A layered tip is layers of leather and glue holding them together. When you take layers of the tip off you gotta figure that you are playing with just a layer of glue and I personally don't like that idea.
"Sometimes you just need your tip to hold a little extra chalk."
The metal scuffer and shaper, as you scuff the specific area that is glazed off you don't have to continuously take layers of your tip off. The tip tool is great and it offers you a wide variety of tools that allow you to shape, pik, and scuff your tip to any degree. Kamui I was the first company to my knowledge that used this technology in their gator grip. This is the same material.
This tip tool is plastic which usually means that it’s cheap but I didn’t find that in this product. It’s just a noteworthy aspect that I wanted to point out.
This product is great but you as a player and as someone that works on your cue needs to train yourself on how to use this properly but this is true with everything that you get. Most people come to think that they are experts without the training. Shaping the tips is the hardest part in all of this. This tool gives you different diameters of tips and simply expects you to grind until you get it right. It just takes a little skill.
The tool offers a tip pick which consists of a bunch of little pins to grab the leather and tear it just a bit to make the surface a bit more grippy. It also offers a shaper with a general rounded cup to get the general shape you wanna start with. “Very common in shapers” This tip tool also features a short burnisher that allows you to burnish your tip after you are done shaping it. Which is a nice little feature that you can use. On the underside of the tool it features a full length shaper with a very little curve to it. This feature allows you to give the tip that you are working on basically any shape you want from a quarter to a nickel or dime as those are the most common tip size ratings. This part of the shaper is a real lifesaver when you are in a pinch and need to reshape your tip and don’t wanna use a bunch of different tools to get the greatest end result. On either side of the shaper it shows you the tip diameter and shape to go with the tip size.
You ca buy these tip tools at their site. Contact Ian
All in all this is a great tip tool. The only thing that I would advocate to any buyer is that they have an understanding of how to use it before they start grinding away. This tool in the right hands can really do just about anything that you need to and it does it well enough that I recommend this to tip installers for on the fly little tip adjustments.
This product receives the SPM Seal of approval.
