The Secret Society of Lathe Trolls

piaptk · Joined: 25 Jan 2008 Posts: 118

I've noticed on some of my styli that I've been using to cut weird materials (non-lacquers), I've started to get this happening... is that a chip on the tip that causes it to be a different reflectivity?

mossboss · Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 2:34 am Post subject: Dreaming

It is called "polishing" by default
Obviously or it seems that this is the part of the cutter that rubs against the material as it cuts so it shines
The pointy bit at the end still has a bit of material attached to it
Seems quite normal to me
You will get something similar with just about anything that cuts on a circle when only one side is removing material as the cutting point is fixed rather than ie a drill that rotates
Even that shines at the cutting points
Cheers
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Chris From Zenith. Australia
The older I get The Better I was

Simon · Joined: 05 Mar 2008 Posts: 452 Location: London, England

Turn it over - so we can see the edges.
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piaptk · Joined: 25 Jan 2008 Posts: 118

Ironically, when I asked if the tip was "toast" I didn't realize that a couple days later, THIS would happen:

I heated it too much, put it down on the lacquer, and POOOF, puff of smoke!

I'm guessing this needle is completely fried (literally)??? Or is it just some schmutz that can be cleaned off somehow?

piaptk · Joined: 25 Jan 2008 Posts: 118

Here is another one... I'm just trying to get an idea of what level of imperfections makes a needle unusable. If there is any tolerance at all...

Simon · Joined: 05 Mar 2008 Posts: 452 Location: London, England

The tip and the edge look ok

The face looks a bit bashed up or is that dirt?

When a styli is worn/broken the tip of burnishing edges are usually affected.

Tip - Broken off - not in this case.

Cutting edge - chips on the burnished sides - from what I can see there are none. You may have to use a higher magnification to see if there are any. As soon as the burnished edges are damaged they will cause noise.
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Wanted: Stylus for Presto head, Mono heads Grampian, Fairchild, Presto, Fairchild 740 lathe, Presto 8n, 8d 8dg or Neumann AM31 or A131, Presto, Rek O Kut or wot ever recording Amps, PM me what you have for sale.

piaptk · Joined: 25 Jan 2008 Posts: 118

I've been getting weird chips in the face of the ruby sometimes without getting any on the cutting edge. It's been kind of weird...

Simon · Joined: 05 Mar 2008 Posts: 452 Location: London, England

Are you cutting new or old acetate ?
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Happy to learn something new.
Wanted: Stylus for Presto head, Mono heads Grampian, Fairchild, Presto, Fairchild 740 lathe, Presto 8n, 8d 8dg or Neumann AM31 or A131, Presto, Rek O Kut or wot ever recording Amps, PM me what you have for sale.

piaptk · Joined: 25 Jan 2008 Posts: 118

Simon · Joined: 05 Mar 2008 Posts: 452 Location: London, England

Ok

WEid stuff - the styli is not made to cut this.

New - heat the styli to reduce wear and noise.

Old - Heat with two 30w bulbs to about 32 to 35 deg ( use a thermo gun to test heat). - no heated styli
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Happy to learn something new.
Wanted: Stylus for Presto head, Mono heads Grampian, Fairchild, Presto, Fairchild 740 lathe, Presto 8n, 8d 8dg or Neumann AM31 or A131, Presto, Rek O Kut or wot ever recording Amps, PM me what you have for sale.

mossboss · Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 7:58 pm Post subject: Piaptk

Acetone should clean this up if it is not burned to a crisp in other words carbonised in which case apart from some magic stuff used in oil refineries to remove burned carbon deposits I have no suggestions
The stylus looks Ok regardless
Now have you a play back arm that you can place on the TT while cutting?
There is a simple way to get the right temperature of the stylus on a per lacquer basis
I have posted on this before look it up
Old Acetates
You can apply a thin coating of castor oil on them
Get it from any pharmacy drug store and let them sit for a few days
keep them in a closed box or the container they come in and stick a medium size potato cut in half with them palce the lid on
The moisture from the potato will add enough water in them to get them back to being more than fair to cut while the castor oil will soften them and keep their shine
Also if there any discoloured spots on them they will dissapear as well
No this is not a joke about the potato by the way and No you cannot eat them after that
About a week will see them A ok if not that old whatever that may mean
A fair indicator is the whitish spots on them or very fine lines that look like cracks when the white spots fade away that should be fair indication that they be OK to use
Cheers
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Chris From Zenith. Australia
The older I get The Better I was

piaptk · Joined: 25 Jan 2008 Posts: 118

How do you apply the castor oil without scratching the coating? Just pour and let it run? Does it dry or do you have to remove it before you cut it? It doesnt get the platter all greasy?

mossboss · Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 10:33 pm Post subject: Acetates

Well
Use make-up removal pads Or a ball of cotton wool
If there is no dust on them they will not scratch
Dont use Scotch pads they are Bad for them
Use another pad to clean them and an antistatic spray if you want
Flo's holly water
The solvent in that will remove any excess oil
You only need to smear a bit of oil on them
Not give them a bath in it
Any way the point being that you can buy new acetates and they will be just fine
If you are using old ones well here is way that will improve them not make them as good as newly made stock it is a compromise at best
Cheers
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Chris From Zenith. Australia
The older I get The Better I was

piaptk · Joined: 25 Jan 2008 Posts: 118

Awesome.. Thanks! I've got a hanful of old blanks that I wanted to use to cut friends some dubs. I'll give it a try!

Jesus H Chrysler · Joined: 26 Nov 2006 Posts: 62 Location: Charleston, SC

olive oil works pretty good too Very Happy

ameise · Joined: 17 Jul 2009 Posts: 18

lacquer sticking to the stylus can also be removed (maybe not that much as on one of your photos) by cutting a few grooves without heat:
that removes some old "schmutz"
chip suction won't work but stylus gets cleaner that way...

something everybody does is also explained on transcos website lately:

PITH WOOD - A must of the watchmaker and jeweller’s tool box, and an essential part of the cleaning process for precision tools and balance jewels.

When used with either a ruby or sapphire cutting styli it can help prolong the useful life of the stylus, by absorbing oil, dirt, and debris.

It is preferable to clean the tip first with a solvent (MEK or Acetone) before jabbing it into the soft centre of the pith wood. After cleaning it may require a "puff" from a dust blower to remove any tiny particles of pith wood that might be clinging to the tip.

mossboss · Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 6:42 pm Post subject: Acetates

Hey J Chrysler
Long time no hear Yep olive oil is good as well But castor oil is an ingredient of them so it may be a liitle better
Mart
Pith wood
Yep it is good also in the absence of it some of the flat toothpicks from some Asian countries work well
We dip them in Acetone first
Than use the flat side with a slight rubbing motion
Needs to be done a few times takes a couple of minutes
Not sure cutting with no heat The friction will certainly clean it up However it will not do the Sapphire much good
I see no problem with diamond though
Cheers
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Chris From Zenith. Australia
The older I get The Better I was