How to cut the end of the grip before putting the grip tape? At which angle should I cut so that it can wrap round the cone nicely?
You don't have to cut the grip...just wrap it under some tension (begin at the bottom) and fix it with the tape, which you can wrap round about three times. Thats how I do mine
Wrap the grip up until it just touches the bottom of the cone. Then lay the rest of the grip out straight as though continuing on the slope. Cut horizontally level with the bottom of the cone and you'll have something that wraps right under the cone very neatly. I have exaggerated the angle in the sketch; the "point" will reach all the way around the handle.
Alternatively you can just keep gripping it past where you want, until the place you want the grip to end is covered the whole way around. Then draw a line (pen/pencil), or score it with a knife (careful!), along that line. Then unwrap the grip and use scissors to cut along the line you just made.
I have a question too though: when I put the tape over the end of the grip it never goes quite right, because of how the cone is a cone shape, and not a cylinder, and the tape is straight. I'm not quite sure how to explain, but as you start wrapping the tape because the cone is slanted and the tape is going around it then it doesn't always stick properly to the cone and you get creases/bubbles in the tape. For example when I unwrap a racket the tape is no longer straight, it curves. But yet when it went on it was straight. Do you just have to stretch it and pull it tight?
Don't use the supplied finishing tape; use electrical tape - it stretches across the cylinder and cone without distorting and giving that "skirt" effect. As druss says, pull it very tight.
what i find effective is cutting parallel with the shaft first, then peel back the "unwanted" corner and then cut diagonally across this makes a near perfect cut similar to the illustrated one by Mark A as for the tape question.. i still use the finishing tape, but what i do is i tape it at a ridiculously acute angle with the shaft (almost parallel to the cut i made) and wrap it around the edge of the cone finishing on the shaft (i grip up to the cone) of course, all while applying a fair amount of tension on the tape (pulling on it) this give me the best results in finishing the grip
I use the whole grip too... keep in mind that I grip the cone right up to the shaft just like b.leung does. This allows me to grip the racket right up to the shaft during things like service return.
i only grip up to the cone, cuz that's the highest i grip my racket but i guess to each their own right? i've also tried to have a 25% and 50% overlap those created some fat handles hahaha
I use karakel grip but their finishing tape isn't very stretchy and will give you the creases you mentioned. I recommend Nitto tape from mybadmintonstore.com and it doesn't leave behind the glue residue when you peel it off later on.