I read in a book or pamphlet somewhere that you can boil your TT and fit it to your thumb. does this ruin it? I am too scared to try it in fear of losing my one and only TT. it is hard plastic and is just slightly too big for me. I've had experiences where its almost fell off. so back to the original question. does boiling your TT work, is it a perfect fit for the outcome, whats your experience from doing it, is it worth it??


thanks,
joshua

It pretty much works, depending on the composition of your TT. The hard plastic Vernet should work well for this.

Don't just drop it in boiling water. All you need to do is reduce the entrance of the TT to better fit your thumb. When I did this, I would heat a cup full of water and simply hold the tip in the water, just heating the bottom half inch or so. You'll need something to help shape it. If you're stretching it you need to find something to wedge the softened tip over until it cools. It's tougher to find something for reducing the tip. I found a candle holder that had a tapered base that the tip fit in nicely. I just heated the opening of the tip and stuffed it down into the candle holder until it cooled.

I've tried, didn't do anything to the thumbtip, but it hurt my thumb pretty bad (boiling water + bare skin = bad). Maybe that was just me, but I couldn't get it to work, but it didn't ruin the thumbtip at all.
Just my 2 cents...
~Jonton

Oh yeah, I fogot to mention. It's the "fake" tip that goes into the water, not the "real" one. You might want to take it off first too. (the fake one, that is)

Good learning

It's one of those lessons you don't easily forget.

Can I do the same with tennis balls ? (not my bare skin)

Dave,
you are soooo right . . . . .

Dave, please elaborate. I don't think I quite fully get what youre saying the way you did it. since my pamphlet says to drop the whole thing in boiling water, then put it on your thumb.

that's where I went wrong. don't do that... If the hard plastic is soft enough to be shaped, then its FAR too hot to put on your skin. Dave, feel free to elaborate.

Before you boil your TT, make sure it really is too loose. Mine is always in the state of falling off. You don't want it to go past your first knuckle, so it really isn't going to be a "Fit". Just my experience.

I used to dip my fingers in melted wax for a wax finger.... not boiling water, but it still hurt, it was worth it. I have passed the secret on to my children. My wife thinks were retarded.

Regarding hot tips and burnt fingers, Jonton pretty much summed it up.

The only thing that needs to be resized is the opening, so why risk distorting the entire tip? Just hold it by the nail end and suspend the opening in hot water until it softens. Then either wedge it open or closed depending on your needs.

Bill Palmer suggested using a shot glass to curl the edge inward. Rather than repeat what he wrote, I suggest you do a search under his name. It make take you a few more posts before you see it, because I think it was in the "Secret Sessions" forum that you don't yet have access to.

We are getting very close to revealing inside information here. Joshua, you only need seven more posts to get into the secret sessions. If you will send me your e-mail address, I will send you the information on how to make it work properly. It will take about a half hour to do it, including pouring out the hot water after you get through.

As an alternative, you can line the inside of the mouth of the TT with adhesive tape. However, this gets dirty after a while and can snag the things you don't want to snag.