DIY heated stylus

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jeffthompson
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DIY heated stylus

Post: # 36973Unread post jeffthompson
Thu Aug 27, 2015 8:13 pm

I've looked over the forum and found bits and pieces, but does anyone have advice for setting up a DIY heating system for cutting styli? I did see this PDF, but I can't quite follow the instructions.

I have a small Presto head, so any suggestions for this in particular would be very helpful!

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opcode66
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Re: DIY heated stylus

Post: # 36976Unread post opcode66
Thu Aug 27, 2015 11:53 pm

12 V DC power supply that can go up to 1 amp. A potentiometer to adjust the voltage and therefore current. One leg to ground, the other from the dc voltage, the third out to an Ameter to display the value of the current passing. The Ameter is in series with the heated stylus. Very simple. Maybe $30 worth of parts including a project case and wall transformer.
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jeffthompson
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Re: DIY heated stylus

Post: # 37527Unread post jeffthompson
Sat Sep 26, 2015 8:29 am

Sorry, just getting back to this now. I understand the idea of how this works, but I'm still a little confused on exactly how everything gets hooked together. Could you upload a picture?

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opcode66
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Re: DIY heated stylus

Post: # 37529Unread post opcode66
Sat Sep 26, 2015 8:50 am

This is the schematic for the box I've been using with success. The only thing not on the schematic is the multithrow single pole switch I used with an LED and 1K resistor to indicate if the box is powered on or not. You must use ceramic 10 Watt resistors before the potentiometer wired as a rheostat.
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jeffthompson
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Re: DIY heated stylus

Post: # 37530Unread post jeffthompson
Sat Sep 26, 2015 9:15 am

This is so great. Thanks for sharing!

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rsimms3
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Re: DIY heated stylus

Post: # 37908Unread post rsimms3
Wed Oct 14, 2015 9:22 am

I'll ask this here although there are a couple different recent threads. When adding a heating wire to a bare stylus, is there a particular way to wrap the wire? Should the wire be in a tight spiral where it touches on each turn or loose so it doesn't touch? Lots of info on size of wire and bonding but not really on preferred wrapping. Any guidance is appreciated.

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opcode66
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Re: DIY heated stylus

Post: # 37919Unread post opcode66
Wed Oct 14, 2015 8:03 pm

Three turns. Just like a normal coil. But, could be bunched up too. It will work either way. Total resistance should be about 3 Ohms. NiChrome wire.
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rsimms3
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Re: DIY heated stylus

Post: # 37921Unread post rsimms3
Wed Oct 14, 2015 10:24 pm

Great, thanks! Apparently Nichrome wire has become synonymous with vapor smoking, almost all of the nichrome wire on Amazon has a vapor slant to it's name or packaging.

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opcode66
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Re: DIY heated stylus

Post: # 37925Unread post opcode66
Wed Oct 14, 2015 11:02 pm

Yes sir. Wrap it around a ceramic cylindrical core and you've got the heating element in a vaporizer. But, I wouldn't know anything about that. Wink.
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DjMikiRia
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Re: DIY heated stylus

Post: # 38119Unread post DjMikiRia
Tue Oct 27, 2015 2:33 pm

I tried using a ceramic glue gun heating element chip to assist in cutting during recording & found it was quite difficult to get a proper temp. All that did for me was make the CD bubble and unplayable. I forgot where I got the idea from, but it was in a winter and the environment the lathe was in was not controllable at the time. The chip was quite close to the cutting point so that the heat did not need to travel far. I also tried Ni-chrome wire with even less success. Not trying to be discouraging, only stating what did not work for me.

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opcode66
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Re: DIY heated stylus

Post: # 38124Unread post opcode66
Tue Oct 27, 2015 4:05 pm

The design I posted is simple and it works.
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emidisc
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Re: DIY heated stylus

Post: # 38291Unread post emidisc
Tue Nov 03, 2015 5:20 pm

Todd the "ceramic cylindrical core" sounds interesting depending on the size may make it possible to heat a steel stylus without putting any current directly into the stylus I may rip one apart and investigate!

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rsimms3
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Re: DIY heated stylus

Post: # 38377Unread post rsimms3
Thu Nov 05, 2015 10:28 pm

Built the DGM stylus heating box over the past week or so. It would have been done sooner if I hadn't ordered the wrong pot (hint: 100k ohm pots burn up pretty quick in this setup). Cut a Laserdisc with heat. Had the LD heated to around 95 and the stylus heat set around .4 as Todd mentioned for cutting plastic. Running about 1.25v DC. Trying to cut about 16 minutes per side with the last 4 minutes going downhill pretty bad still with inner groove distortion but not as bad as it was without stylus heat. I'll try to transfer the cut this weekend and do some frequency analysis. Thanks for the design Todd!

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opcode66
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Re: DIY heated stylus

Post: # 38378Unread post opcode66
Thu Nov 05, 2015 10:58 pm

Nice! 8)
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opcode66
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Re: DIY heated stylus

Post: # 38384Unread post opcode66
Fri Nov 06, 2015 3:11 am

I might add that the value for the potentiometer could be increased to something like 200 Ohms or a little more. When the box is turned on and you dial the pot all the way to decrease the current, you ca't get to zero. With a higher resistance value potentiometer, you could get closer to zero. Personally, I don't care. I user the switch to control on/off and not the dial. But, others may prefer to use the dial. In which case, you can't get to zero with the 100 Ohm stated in the hand drawn schematic. Sorry about that.
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intoid
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Re: DIY heated stylus

Post: # 38932Unread post intoid
Sun Dec 06, 2015 1:36 pm

I haven't done this yet, but my idea is to get a fully variable 0 - 10VDC power supply off eBay, a 20 watt 10 ohm wire wound resistor, and simply connect all in a series circuit with your 3 turn stylus heater wire. Adjusting the power supply to 4 volts will deliver .4 amps to your stylus heater, for example. What could be easier than that? Bowing, thank you, thank you, thank you. :)

PS, there could be a little current error depending on the stylus heater wire resistance. So a power supply with an ammeter will offer a better indication if you just read the ammeter for reference instead. An adjustable 10 ohm resistor or potentiometer adjusted to seven ohms to compensate for the likely 3 ohm resistance of your stylus heater will likely be more accurate if your power supply only has a volt meter. I would use a high quality Hewlet Packard power supply that might cost $100 or so on eBay.
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opcode66
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Re: DIY heated stylus

Post: # 38937Unread post opcode66
Sun Dec 06, 2015 2:40 pm

My box costs half that to make. Essentially the same thing. Instard of usig an expensive potentiometer, I just use high wattage resistors first, then a cheapo pot. Total cost of my box is maybe $50. Most tinkerers have all these parts already.

Your approach will also work. The pot may get hot. Heat will change its resistance. So, you'll def want a meter to be able to check cutrent.
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intoid
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Re: DIY heated stylus

Post: # 38948Unread post intoid
Sun Dec 06, 2015 11:34 pm

For anyone who may be interested in a more stable stylus heating system, I see four HP 6214C power supplies on eBay now for under $80 that come with both voltage and current meters.
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opcode66
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Re: DIY heated stylus

Post: # 38949Unread post opcode66
Mon Dec 07, 2015 5:28 am

Minor fluctuations don't matter. It is just a stylus heating supply. You could turn it off briefly and then on again and not notice a difference while cutting. The stone retains heat fairly well. So, even a slightly wavering supply would work fine.

But, the point of the matter is that my supply works very stably. I can shoot a video if you like. It maintains a really constant reading on the ammeter when in use. I watched it for a long time recently. I'm happy to shoot a boring long video of a closeup of the ammeter while in use. I think that might put all this to rest. There is nothing more than rheostat in a Neumann, fyi. This is very similar.
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intoid
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Re: DIY heated stylus

Post: # 38957Unread post intoid
Mon Dec 07, 2015 2:32 pm

Speaking of the "stone" one should use care in maintaining a very light, low mass structure around the cutter needle because any additional mass reduces the cutter resonance and high frequency response. The three turn coil of wire is rather light, but an additional stone structure may become significant mass that impacts the cutter high frequency response and resonance which could throw off the compensating electronic calibrations of the entire system. For these reasons, I would apply careful considerations to the mass of any additional structures surrounding the cutter needle to avoid spoiling the system dynamics. Just some thoughts... :)
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