Damn My Tip is Hard…
February 20th, 2008 by poolcuereview
Wondering about the whole pool cue tip thing? Here’s what you need to know. Tips come with different densities. Tip density effects mushrooming. Get a soft cue tip like an Elk Master and you’ll be shaping the thing all the time. Get a hard tip like a Water Buffalo and you won’t need to shape it much, but its a bitch to scuff.
From what I can tell, the big advantage to a soft tip over a hard tip is control. If you use a soft tip, you should be able to get more english on the ball. If you’re a duffer like me though, you’ll probably want to go with a nice medium tip that will give you equal levels of control and durability. My Predator shaft has a Tiger Everest tip, which seems to work just fine.
As for different animal skins, I have no idea. Leather, pigskin, boar (wait… isn’t that just fancy talk for wild pig?), buffalo. There seems to be a tip for every tasty critter, but damned if I can tell the difference between playing with a leather tip or a pig tip. Just for you, my one and only loyal reader, I ganked the tip densities from Terry Macioge’s book “How To Tip A Pool Cue“:
Soft (Density = 60-65)
Elk Master - 60.1
Royal Oak - 66.5
Blue Knights - 61.2
Silver King - 60.3
Chandivert Eureka - 64.4
Porper Ram - 64.1
Stratos - 65.8
Tiger Laminated - 65.3
Moori - 63.8
Talisman - 64.3
Medium (Density = 66-75)
Tiger Sniper - 66.9
Chandivert Super Royal - 75.8
Porper Ram - 75.1
Tsunami - 75.8
Tiger Everest - 75.1
Tiger Laminated - 74.5
Moori - 74.2
Talisman - 73.9
Medium Hard (Density = 76-80)
Le Pro - 78.2
Triumph - 76.9
Chandivert Champion - 74.2
Chandivert Crown - 77.1
Chandivert Comprime - 78.7
Tiger Dynamite - 77.2
Wild Boar - 77.8
Talisman Pro - 77.0
Porper Majestic - 77.4
Hard (Density = 81-85)
Sumo - 82.0
Triangle - 81.4
Tsunami - 82.4
Stratos - 81.1
Tiger Laminated - 81.0
Stingray - 83.5
Chandivert Rocky - 82.1
Moori - 82.7
Talisman - 81.4
Extra Hard (Density = 86+)
Talisman - 86.1
Stratos - 87.3
Tiger Jump/Break - 99
This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 20th, 2008 at 6:20 am and is filed under Billiards Essentials, Pool Cue Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
March 9th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Well it’s nice to know some one is reading my book. Glad the density chart has come in handy for some one. These densities were calculated with the use of the tip density machine developed by none other than Joe Porper. Glad you found a use. The densities tell a lot about the tip. There’s no part of the pool stick more important than the tip itself.
Best Regards,
Terry Macioge
Author
“How To Tip a Pool Cue, The Laymen’s Guide”
March 10th, 2008 at 6:34 am
Dude, your book freakin’ rocks! It is an absolute must read for anyone new to the game. I wouldn’t have even tried to replace my own tip without your book.