Transco Lacquers and Styli

[concretecowboy71]

Cameron:

I have not noticed what you speak of, but sometimes it is months before we hear a test pressing of a job, so as you mentioned we can only seem to see trends instead of flaws in individual jobs. What I have noticed recently is this:

1) A stylus might have streaks on 14" plates but looks great on 10" plates (very common lately).

2) Streaking actually appears to LESSEN as stylus heat goes down. When I change a stylus now, I run it for a few minutes with no heat and then run several test bands starting at .4amp up to about .55amp. I now try and get the lowest heat possible with as little surface noise.

I get styli that streak, that sound great. Others not as much.

[opcode66]

Sound great in lacquer and in pressing?

[concretecowboy71]

Yes.

If I tossed every stylus that had a streak, I would never get anything done!

I use my ears to determine what is acceptable or not. Between two machines and over a 2000 sides a year, we have to rely on our best judgement these days. Lacquers look good for a few months, then not so much. Sometime Adamant styli are great, sometimes Transco.

If I was on the blower with Apollo every time something looked weird, I would cut about 6 sides a week!

Also, I notice that a stylus will streak on a 14" plate and not on a 10"...to me that says more about the plates than the stylus itself.

[opcode66]

What that tells me is the imperfections are there on the burnishing facets (if present and proper). The difference you are seeing is a difference in the softness of the lacquer.

[concretecowboy71]

Opcode:

Is it possible to post a basic drawing of a cutting stylus? I would love to see where and why these imperfections happen.

I think it would make a good way for us to talk about the styli in a more educated manner.

I will be the first to admit that I could certainly know more about this topic.

Thanks!

[Bob Weston]

[opcode66]

You don't even see the burnishing facets until I zoom in. That facet is typically 4 microns wide. I made the drawing and the video. This is a 100% accurate 3d model of a 320 stylus. I have tons of scanned documentation as well.

[Bob Weston]

Beautiful, Todd! Thank you!

bw

[concretecowboy71]

Wow!

Thanks. That is very helpful. The crux of what we are talking about then is the possibility that those small facets are not polished correctly?

Is that what leaves the streaks in the grooves?

Opcode..thanks for your time on this.

[opcode66]

Yes. If that facet has imperfections then they will cause streaking. I've seen styli that appear to bot have complete burnishing facets. They start at the tip but fall short of following the entire cutting edge. I've seen styli that appear to have no burnishing facets. And, ones with imperfections in a full facet.

[Greg Reierson]

I'm fighting with styli again today. What's latest.

[dietrich10]

I am sending back the 320 I mounted this morning. tip looked worn out before i even set it up. did some test cuts and sounded like chip drag due to the rounded tip

[Greg Reierson]

I've been getting vertical distortion and I wonder if it's caused by the poor center of the groove. Testing ...

[Phinster]

Using MDC 14's and Transco 320's here. I've noticed the last couple of styli have cleaned up after about 2-3 hours.
They are quiet, sound good and last about 40 hours with little facet wear. I don't wear them in with no heat though.

If it works for you however................

Use Apollo 12in masters for cutting dubs, they're always streaky, but seem to be quiet. Flatness is an occasional issue. Not quite as good as MDC. but they don't have the capacity to make dubs at the moment.

Adamant have new versions out now, but haven't tried them yet.

Fun huh...

[jjgolden]

Hi Greg,

I had a recent issue with vertical chatter distortion.
It was the shank loose in the torque tube.
The shanks are not all made equal and some become loose or don't fit correctly.
If re-seating it doesn't help, try replacing the stylus.

Hope this helps,
JJG

[Greg Reierson]

Hey JJ,

I've been talking to Chris Muth about it. I tried cleaning the hole and reseating but it didn't help. I'll try another stylus. I don't hear this distortion in the feedback so I'm pretty confident it's mechanical. More testing...

[jjgolden]

Ok cool, good luck with it, keep up posted,

Happy Holidays!
JJG

[dietrich10]

Greg-I had a 320 a few weeks ago that fit so snug in the holder that I could not turn it at all to align it.
Took me some time and patience to slowly get it out.
After that I was getting an odd noise(hard to describe-not very audible but enough to stop me from using it) in unmodulated grooves with 3 different styli. I tried a spare head and the same noise was not present.

I assumed the torque tube became slightly loose due to the stylus. Monday morning I spent time cleaning the hole for the stylus with a rounded toothpick and lens cloth. Head seems fine now.

[Greg Reierson]

Yep, jumping through those hoops now. New stylus, different head, Apollos and MDC, two different pick-up systems. Still not gone. It's not audible in the feedback so I can't imagine it's anything electronic. Seems like is must be either the stylus or the head. It's not terrible but I have some very picky clients... More testing

[dietrich10]

Is the faceplate flush when cutting?