Sounds like you're doing full slabs as opposed to St. Louis. Aren't you at
least cutting off the heavy chine bone at the top of the long bone end? It
should come off before cooking. As far s the cartilage in the rib tips a
sharp knife should handle that. I can take a sharp knife to a full slab,
locate the big bone end of the back flap, and that will mark the longest
bone. Using a small cut just above that bone as a guide, I can now run my
knife down the slab at that point and separate the tips, with bone, from the
resulting .StL slab. You should not have to pound or cleaver your ribs. I
don't like seeing restaurants do that becasue sometimes they leave bone
chips. I can cut individual bones easily. Turn the slab over and cut from
the backside if you're having trouble locating bones, and find your cut
spots next to crooked ribs rather than mashing through them with a cleaver.
HTH.
MartyB