Why Is Cue Tip Maintenance Important?

A cue tip is a critical component of a good pool cue. As many players like to say, “A cue is only as good as its tip.” Having the right tip shape and texture is key to consistent play, and creating the “touch” that you want out of your cue. Cue tips change with use, so proper tip maintenance is the best way to keep your cue playing the way you want it to.

Why Do Cue Tips Need Maintenance?

Cue tips experience thousands of impacts during their lifespan. Made of pliable leather, cue tips will naturally start to lose their shape and consistency over time.

Most commonly, cue tips can dry out, harden, or glaze over, preventing them from holding chalk. Problems with cue tips drying out or hardening typically occur when a cue is improperly stored (e.g. a cue left in a hot or humid environment). A tip glazing over and not holding chalk is often the result of miscues or infrequent chalking. Cue tips that have glazed over will look smooth and shiny.

Occasionally, tips can “mushroom” or flatten. When a tip undergoes lots of firm, center-ball strikes, it can begin to lose its curvature and start to bow out around the edges, similar to the shape of a mushroom. The softer a cue tip is, the more likely it is to mushroom. Most premium tips now come “layered,” meaning they’re made with a stack of thin layers of leather, rather than a single piece of it. Layered tips are better at preventing mushrooming, but are susceptible to another problem: delamination.

When a layered tip delaminates, its individual layers separate and come apart. Miscues, improper storage, or faulty tips are all possible reasons for delamination. Unfortunately, delamination can’t be fixed. So, it’s best to have a new tip installed if you notice this problem.

In the worst case scenario, cue tips can pop off completely. This can happen during a miscue, or even a normal shot. Most often, a tip that pops off is the result of poor installation.

How Can You Best Maintain Your Cue Tip?

Scuffing

If your cue tip has hardened and won’t hold chalk, you’ll need to scuff the surface of the tip into a soft, fluffy texture. Most tip tools include a rough surface designed specifically for scuffing and shaping the tip. When you use a tip tool to scuff your tip, be gentle and take care to not remove an excess of leather. Scuffing a cue tip should only take a few seconds when done correctly.

In this clip, Jennifer Baretta is using the scuff feature of the Tip Master Tip Tool. Other tools, like the Tiger Tip Shaper and the Willard Scuffer, are also good choices for scuffing a cue tip.

Tip-Pick

You can also use a “tip-pick” tool to further increase the chalk retention of your tip. When using a tip pick, it’s important to only tap the top of the tip with the tool, as dragging, spinning, or pushing the tip pick deep into the leather can damage the tip.

Jennifer is using the Tip Pik tip tool in this clip, but there are also plenty of other tools that have a tip pick feature built into them, such as the Cuetec Bowtie or the Summit Compact tip tool.

Tip Shaping Tool

If your tip begins to mushroom, use a tip shaping tool to reshape the tip into your desired curvature. Most tip tools allow you to shape the top of your tip into the radius of a dime, nickel, or quarter. For cues with smaller shaft diameters, a sharper radius tip is recommended, and the opposite is true for cues with larger shafts. When you're reshaping a tip, go slow and use minimal pressure. If you're using a grove style tip shaper (as seen in the image), drag the shaper downwards along the tip to remove the leather. Pulling the shaper upwards against the edge of the tip could cause damage. Tip shapers are perhaps the most ubiquitous tip tool on the market, but my personal favorite is the Last 4 Ever tip tool (as seen in the photo below) because of its simple, durable construction.

Burnishing

Burnishing a cue tip is a great way to prevent mushrooming. Burnishing involves using a smooth surface, like a soft paper or a piece of leather, to heat up and harden the edges of the tip. Some tip tools may have strips of leather, or metal prongs for burnishing. Quickly rub or spin the edge of your tip along the surface. You can add a small amount of water to the sides of your tip during the burnishing process to increase the effect.

In this clip, Jennifer Barretta is using the metal burnisher of the Summit Multi Tool, which is one of the more popular tip tools because it's incredibly versatile (it’s five different tools in one!)

If your tip pops off completely, it’s possible to re-glue the tip onto the cue if the tip itself is not damaged. You can have your tip re-glued at a cue shop, but you can also do this yourself. If you choose to fix the tip yourself, you should first clean away any remnants of leather and old glue from the ferrule of the cue and the tip before reattaching them. Most gel-type super glues will work fine for this repair.

When Does a Cue Tip Need Replaced?

Regardless of how well you maintain your tip, all tips will eventually need to be replaced. Every time you scuff and reshape your tip you remove leather from the surface. If the sides of the tip are less than a fingernails width thick, it's time to have the tip replaced. Naturally, the more you use your cue the faster the tip will wear out. As a general rule of thumb, replace your tip once every few months for frequent use, and once a year for more casual/recreational use.

If the tip has become damaged beyond repair, such as if it delaminates, you will need to have a new tip installed. Most premium tips now cost upwards of $20. Installing a new tip is not as easy as just pulling the old tip off and gluing on a new one. New tips come oversized, and need to be shaven down and shaped properly to fit your cue. For this reason, I recommend getting new tips installed by a reputable cuesmith. However, if you don’t mind the extra work and patience, you can install your own tips with a tool like the Spinster 1Q, which contains all the features needed to replace an old tip yourself.