I was looking at a thread from last year that included talking about some
collectors making
their own tungsten needles ("Victor vs. Columbia big guns"). I've been making
my own needles too for use in my Victrola 10-50, the big acoustic machine with
the auto changer.
I wanted to bounce off what I'm using to everybody and see if I am ok with what
I'm using...
maybe not ideal, but at the least, ok. I'm using .006" wire from
SmallParts.com, it comes in
straight 5-foot long pieces. However, in the specs on the website, it says
'Temper -
Annealed'.
There was a mention about annealed wire being too weak for use as needle tips.
I have been using my needles for many months now, and as long as I make sure
I don't
go overboard with the length of the tungsten tip, I am not having significant
problems with
the wire tips being too weak. Since they have thinner wire than the factory
"Tonofone"
needles I have, which I measured at .007", I make sure that my .006" tips are
somewhat
shorter than those. There is also the factor that since I can make as many of
these as I
want for only about 2 cents each, I can afford to make the tips as short as I
want.
I mean I don't need them to last 50-100 records like a Tungstone - just
enough to be able
to play 2 or 3 or 4 12-record stacks.
Anyway - comments/suggestions? Would annealed vs. not really make a
significant difference
in strength in this application? Smallparts was the only place I could find
to buy a small
amount of this size wire. I compromised with .006" wire, since .007" is too
big and .005 was
the next size available and it just won't take the weight.
Thanks!
Mark French
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