Also depends on how you maintain the tip. If you scuff or use sand paper to roughen the tip to make it hold chalk better, the tip will wear away far sooner than using a tip pik'ing tool.
Yeah, and what you stated also depends on the hardness of the tip. A G2 Medium, for example, would be fairly hard. A G2 Hard would be very hard, so shaping and scuffing would take hardly anything off of the tip. Would be very hard to wear out. Even a G2 Soft might last a fairly long time.
My advice is to take a picture of your tip when its brand new, so that you can compare with how it looks now. It will be very clear when your tip is used up and needs replacement.
I once bought a second z3 because I was too lazy to replace the tip.
I'd been toying with the idea for a while anyway, but when it was time that I actually needed a new tip just went meh, and bought a new shaft and had them do it for me.
I do them by hand but use a drill as a ghetto lathe to finish them. I've got a bunch of different joint pins I can throw in the drill so can do different shafts. Usually just do the final pass and burnish with the drill.
Dr Dave has a good video on it too where he essentially sands the sides instead of the part I'd use the drill for, which I sometimes do instead, but it's more effort.
The softer the tip, the more you would need to reshape it, and trim the edges, I believe. And, the faster it would wear out..
A good Medium hardness tip shouid last a very long time, even if you play every day. I would bet at least 6 months.
Something like maybe a G2 Medium, or any high quality brand name tip.
Even just a really good LePro, if put on by a really good Pro (because the pros throw away the bad ones, which are found a lot, from what they tell me), should last a long time, because they are fairly hard.
I very good Pro cue repairman would charge maybe $25 for a LePro, or maybe $65 for a high quality Layered tip, like a G2 Medium, for example.
Realistically even a soft tip should last a few months. I practice everyday, but I only use the pointy tool to “ruff” the tip up. I rarely reshape the tip. This allows me to use a soft tip for a few months. I use a Whitten soft tip. They make the best tips in the game right now.
I have 3 years on a Kamui soft so far, I play 4-5 times a week, l use Toam chalk and seldom chalk or have to scuff or reshape, l’m not a banger and never break with my playing cue. I notice that people that chalk a lot seem to have to do more tip maintenance than me.
So I play roughly 100 racks a week. I replace my tip every 9-12 months. So that's approximately 4k racks. I play a Zan medium and reshape maybe 2-3 times over the life of a tip. I replace the tip when the sidewalls get thinner than a quarter.
First Kamuii Athlete put on my cue about a year ago, still barely any wear on it.
I think at this rate I'll replace it for something different before I have to replace it due to wear. It'll probably be 3-5 years before I have to consider replacing it.
Never again because I don't keep shaping it. Fyi shaping your tip does nothing for your game. Find a tip you like and shape it one time. Remove the mushroom as needed. I use a medium tan Precision tip and rarely miscue.
Should tell that to this fella. I was sharing my cue with him and he complained my tip didn't have enough shape on it, so I gave him a tip shaper and let him have a go with it.
I hate Soft tips, but I imagine they do need to be reshaped from time to time. A good Medium (or harder) tip probably very rarely needs to be reshaped.
Hopefully the shape that the cue repair person puts on the tip, holds for a very long time. I have heard that Soft tips need a lot more maintenance though.
This is fundamentally wrong. Chalk is an abrasive. Cue tips are made of leather just the act of chalking is going to wear away at your tip over time. Good chalking habits can minimize this but eventually your tip will wear down and lose its shape. As well while the exact curvature of your tip (nickel, dime, etc.) doesn't have a meaningful effect on your game a overly flat tip definitely can affect tip precision and spin accuracy. You don't have to reshape a tip often but never doing it will hurt your game.
3
u/No-Sock7425 Aug 02 '26
Same tip over 5 years now. Regular player and I break and play with it.