Cheap needle sharpener anybody has tried this?

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Inigo
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Cheap needle sharpener anybody has tried this?

Post by Inigo »

https://www.amazon.es/dp/B07FKLHYJP/ref ... DCb3QFF0SA

These needle sharpeners that are on sale in Amazon and other places are designed for dart needle points, but maybe are usable for gramophone needles, steel or cactus...?? :?:

Could be a modern cheap substitute for the much sought after originals by Meltrope, IM, BCN, etc..
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Re: Cheap needle sharpener anybody has tried this?

Post by Orchorsol »

Good call! I've seen these but haven't really given them much thought.

When people buy BCNs, if they don't own a sharpener I include a small emery board - the first Burmese Colour Needles in the 1920s were supplied with one similarly, before sharpeners were introduced. It takes a bit more care and practice to maintain the angle and to stroke to and fro whilst rotating the needle, and it involves more handling with fingers which for some people may introduce more moisture, but it works OK.

Surprisingly, the exact angle of the point (of sharpening) isn't critical within quite a wide/approximate range - BUT it probably does need to be consistent at each actual sharpening. Seeing one of these things used here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTQ0ClkAF98 I think it might be hard to achieve the desired result in that respect - but it may well work! With the angle poorly controlled it might also lead to a little more waste / fewer sharpenings from each needle, but they're extremely economical anyway.

I'm busy moving house for some time to come but maybe I'll try these out at some point. Thanks for the suggestion! If anyone else has a mind to do so, please let us know how you get on.
BCN thorn needles made to the original 1920s specifications: http://www.burmesecolourneedles.com

Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe4DNb ... TPE-zTAJGg?

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Re: Cheap needle sharpener anybody has tried this?

Post by poodling around »

Inigo wrote:https://www.amazon.es/dp/B07FKLHYJP/ref ... DCb3QFF0SA

These needle sharpeners that are on sale in Amazon and other places are designed for dart needle points, but maybe are usable for gramophone needles, steel or cactus...?? :?:

Could be a modern cheap substitute for the much sought after originals by Meltrope, IM, BCN, etc..

Very interesting, particularly if this works with steel needles. That would be really good !

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Re: Cheap needle sharpener anybody has tried this?

Post by Orchorsol »

poodling around wrote:Very interesting, particularly if this works with steel needles. That would be really good !
'Fraid not. Used steel needles would need profiling with much more precision, then polishing - totally impracticable. If it were remotely viable, we'd all have been doing it for decades!
BCN thorn needles made to the original 1920s specifications: http://www.burmesecolourneedles.com

Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe4DNb ... TPE-zTAJGg?

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Re: Cheap needle sharpener anybody has tried this?

Post by billybob62 »

Needles are cheap compared to the cost of replacing a treasured 78 and, as I understand it, are built to , basically, self-destruct rather than cause undue stress to your record :D .

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Re: Cheap needle sharpener anybody has tried this?

Post by VanEpsFan1914 »

Agree. While it was done back in the day, 78s are getting tougher to find in nice shape and destroying hard-to-find records for a penny's worth of economy is poor management.

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Re: Cheap needle sharpener anybody has tried this?

Post by Inigo »

I've pointed that because it's cheap and could be tried. Of course, after filing the point, it must be examined under a magnifying glass and a strong light, I would never try that point on a record before examining the results optically first!
In the other hand, I hadn't seen the illustrative video pointed out by Orchorsol... the way the dart point is grounded by the man seems not to provide a precise delicate point as a gramophone needle needs. It seems quite a rough affair, though! :D
At first I believed it was sort of holding the needle against the stone central hole rotating the dart on its axis, not with that dancing movement, but more delicately....

When a youngster collector in the eighties, without money nor these marvellous forums and all our present internet resources, I hadn't a source for steel needles, the ones I used then. So I devised an industry (Spanish nickname for anything you prepare and deploy for doing something, as tools, clothes and materials, etc) for sharpening used steel needles. I must later do it before the camera and post a YouTube video of the process I managed to refine. An image tells more than words. Of course this process and the materials involved were much more delicate than the dart point filing as seen in Orchorsol's video... Later you'll see it, but it can be summarized in this: my process is far more delicate and the needles can be reused without harm to the records. I'd been doing that for ten years at least and still keep those needles, and the records, of course, which are still good. My process ids much like the grinding by finger movement, as described by Orchorsol. The trick is to use a soft quartz stone, not emery paper, so you are polishing the needle point, not grinding it out. At first I used sandpaper bands fixed to a wood piece, but this scratched the needle for the sandpaper is too rough. Later I discovered the good soft polishing that quartz stones provide.
I want to summon you later in this post tho see my process and the kind of stones I used for polishing.
Inigo

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Re: Cheap needle sharpener anybody has tried this?

Post by poodling around »

Inigo wrote:I've pointed that because it's cheap and could be tried. Of course, after filing the point, it must be examined under a magnifying glass and a strong light, I would never try that point on a record before examining the results optically first!
In the other hand, I hadn't seen the illustrative video pointed out by Orchorsol... the way the dart point is grounded by the man seems not to provide a precise delicate point as a gramophone needle needs. It seems quite a rough affair, though! :D
At first I believed it was sort of holding the needle against the stone central hole rotating the dart on its axis, not with that dancing movement, but more delicately....

When a youngster collector in the eighties, without money nor these marvellous forums and all our present internet resources, I hadn't a source for steel needles, the ones I used then. So I devised an industry (Spanish nickname for anything you prepare and deploy for doing something, as tools, clothes and materials, etc) for sharpening used steel needles. I must later do it before the camera and post a YouTube video of the process I managed to refine. An image tells more than words. Of course this process and the materials involved were much more delicate than the dart point filing as seen in Orchorsol's video... Later you'll see it, but it can be summarized in this: my process is far more delicate and the needles can be reused without harm to the records. I'd been doing that for ten years at least and still keep those needles, and the records, of course, which are still good. My process ids much like the grinding by finger movement, as described by Orchorsol. The trick is to use a soft quartz stone, not emery paper, so you are polishing the needle point, not grinding it out. At first I used sandpaper bands fixed to a wood piece, but this scratched the needle for the sandpaper is too rough. Later I discovered the good soft polishing that quartz stones provide.
I want to summon you later in this post tho see my process and the kind of stones I used for polishing.
This sounds really interesting. Looking forward very much to seeing and hearing more about your industry !

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