A two-step electrochemical etching procedure is developed to control the sharpness and shape of tips used for either scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) or atom-probe field-ion microscopy (APFIM). The formation of a neck near a tip`s apex is controlled by carefully limiting the amount of chemical solution in contact with the area of the neck. Reproducible, atomically sharp, and appropriately tapered tips can be manually produced with this procedure.