Cartridge break in period ... a question?

[cafe latte]

Cool. I was not aware that it could occur so quickly. I know that, while diamonds are the hardest objects on earth, not all of them come in at a perfect 10 on Mohs Hardness Scale. Some are more in the range of 8 depending on their quality.

I picked up an old Empire 888 cart tried to play it WOW!!! horrible, so I put the stylus under the microscope it was literally a chisel. I argued a few years back about diamond wearing on vinyl records, but that stylus convinced me.
CHris

 

[Mellotronix]

Newburyport MA. EPI is no longer there, but there is a microbrewery that is excellent. I forget their name, but their Green Head IPA is very sound. It is only fitfully distributed in Connecticut, but when I am in New Hampshire, I pick it up.

Thanks for the info. At least I had the right state. I live in mega-microbrew town and I am not a beer drinker. I've had diabetes since I was in college and if I'd rather use my carbohydrate allowance on Tillamook Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream.

 

[cafe latte]

Thanks for the info. At least I had the right state. I live in mega-microbrew town and I am not a beer drinker. I've had diabetes since I was in college and if I'd rather use my carbohydrate allowance on Tillamook Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream.
View attachment 1421419

YUM that looks so good
Chris

 

[Pio1980]

I picked up an old Empire 888 cart tried to play it WOW!!! horrible, so I put the stylus under the microscope it was literally a chisel. I argued a few years back about diamond wearing on vinyl records, but that stylus convinced me.
CHris

I have one of those on similar cdx, I recall more wear on one side as evidence of skating force imbalance.

 

[JP]

No they are not ie flat that is they are rounded just not the same as the rest of the stylus. If you look at a madnified groove the stylus tracks a very winding road constantly changing directions, the wear patch is more like a lens shape.
Re polished new stylus even the best at high magnification show roughness, many have laser etch marks fine but they are there. 50 hours later the patches are smoother for sure.
Chris

Your first paragraph appears to address something I didn’t say. Second paragraph, do you have pictures of the contact area of a quality news stylus with laser etch marks? Why do you think a new stylus doesn’t have high polish on the contact area? What does roughness look like at high magnification?

 

[cafe latte]

Your first paragraph appears to address something I didn’t say. Second paragraph, do you have pictures of the contact area of a quality news stylus with laser etch marks? Why do you think a new stylus doesn’t have high polish on the contact area? What does roughness look like at high magnification?

I dont have a pic as too hard to do with phone through eyepiece, well for good pics anyway. Most stylus have kind of a repeating pattern on them like wriggly lines which is very hard to see, you really need to get the light right. When stylus is very new with little use like 30-50 hours you see this pattern removed on contact surfaces. You actually did say wear patches were flattened and refect light in one plane that is not quite correct they are more lens like due to groove tracking not being straight far from it.
Chris

 

[JP]

A bit of missing the forest for the trees.

 

[cafe latte]

A bit of missing the forest for the trees.

No looking through a microscope and reporting what I am seeing, in 30 hours maybe a little more the contact surfaces polish smoother than the new stylus and wear patches are not flat. All stylus wear in, some more than others depending on the polish, but even the best will smooth off further after some hours of use.
Chris

 

[Nat]

I'm assuming that the laser shaping of the stylus is for line contacts - simpler older methods probably are better for simple shapes.

 

[JP]

No looking through a microscope and reporting what I am seeing, in 30 hours maybe a little more the contact surfaces polish smoother than the new stylus and wear patches are not flat. All stylus wear in, some more than others depending on the polish, but even the best will smooth off further after some hours of use.
Chris

You didn't address the pertinent question: What does rough look like? What magnification are you using?

 

[cafe latte]

You didn't address the pertinent question: What does rough look like? What magnification are you using?

Various, 50, 100, 200 with ones set of eyepieces and up to 400 with the other. x250 with right lighting shows etching but 400 does it better but depth of focus field can make it hard to set up.
This is for good stylus lower quality ones have all sorts of rough some have pits and flaws, some are just not well polished.
Chris

 

[JP]

Haven't seen that on 50 some samples here, though admittedly better quality ones.

 

[cafe latte]

Haven't seen that on 50 some samples here, though admittedly better quality ones.

You will with correct lighting and good optics. I cant see etching marks using the surprisingly good Chinese eyepiece optics, but with the Leitz Wetzlar German eyepieces and same objectives you see them. I have some very decent carts as you know. On cheaper stylus some time in the first 30 hours with less important records is a good idea as some can be quite rough, good stylus it is just a fine polish but it must improve things even is subtle.
Chris