Post by menophanes on Apr 18, 2017 6:37:52 GMT -5
Some weeks ago I mentioned that I had found a simple way of creating a serviceable four-minute stylus for Edison reproducers with the Model-C-type weight (i.e. Models H, R etc.) using non-specialised components. I have now, I feel, had this in use long enough to be justified in sharing it.
The operative element is a standard 'diamond point' stylus as supplied for vinyl LPs. This came mounted on a tube of light metal, which I cut down to a length of about 4mm. I then needed to fabricate a substitute for the Edison stylus-bar, and as I am very short of both tools and skills I made this out of a piece of soft plastic, about 1mm thick, which I could easily cut with a knife. (I actually used the translucent frame or keeper in which the stylus was shipped, but I could just as easily have cut the bar from the rim of a takeaway curry container! Obviously, somebody with steadier hands and better facilities could make a less crude bar out of metal or even hardwood.) I used a two-minute bar as a model, since this was all I had; I knew from past experience that this would fit my Model R reproducer perfectly well. The cut-down stylus was then simply glued onto the thicker end of the bar. I give some images below, including a sketch with various dimensions marked in.
The result works remarkably well – better than I had dared to hope. The volume level is rather low (doubtless because of the small diameter of the stylus itself), but it is clear and free from distortion, with no more in the way of tracking problems than I used to encounter with a genuine four-minute stylus; with a substantial horn (I have a 24-inch brass one) I obtain the warmest and fullest tone I have yet heard from any of my phonographs. I would not like to use this on wax Amberols, since the stylus is certainly more pointed than any authentic cylinder stylus, but there is no sign that it is harmful to 'Blues'; I have now played some of mine five or six times without any evidence of wear.
Oliver Mundy.
The operative element is a standard 'diamond point' stylus as supplied for vinyl LPs. This came mounted on a tube of light metal, which I cut down to a length of about 4mm. I then needed to fabricate a substitute for the Edison stylus-bar, and as I am very short of both tools and skills I made this out of a piece of soft plastic, about 1mm thick, which I could easily cut with a knife. (I actually used the translucent frame or keeper in which the stylus was shipped, but I could just as easily have cut the bar from the rim of a takeaway curry container! Obviously, somebody with steadier hands and better facilities could make a less crude bar out of metal or even hardwood.) I used a two-minute bar as a model, since this was all I had; I knew from past experience that this would fit my Model R reproducer perfectly well. The cut-down stylus was then simply glued onto the thicker end of the bar. I give some images below, including a sketch with various dimensions marked in.
The result works remarkably well – better than I had dared to hope. The volume level is rather low (doubtless because of the small diameter of the stylus itself), but it is clear and free from distortion, with no more in the way of tracking problems than I used to encounter with a genuine four-minute stylus; with a substantial horn (I have a 24-inch brass one) I obtain the warmest and fullest tone I have yet heard from any of my phonographs. I would not like to use this on wax Amberols, since the stylus is certainly more pointed than any authentic cylinder stylus, but there is no sign that it is harmful to 'Blues'; I have now played some of mine five or six times without any evidence of wear.
Oliver Mundy.
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