i have just bought a edison recorder but i opted to buy one without the stylus because they are dirt cheap and i can experiment with them. also i know someone who is having some stili made who has aggreed to send me a good, new stylus and holder which make better recordings than originals however they will not be done for 10 weeks and i am impatient , i know it is common for the stili and holders to fall off and people end up with the bodys however does anyone have the opposite, does anyone have the stylus and holder alone that i can buy, i am experimenting with homemade items and i made a recording although it was INCREDIBLY quiet, you had to put your head in the horn and strain to hear it (the stylus wasnt cutting into the wax very much) so untill i can get the new stili and holders i may try to buy a original to experiment with.
if you happen to have one lying around let me know about price/details
thanks
Alex
In the book "The Compleat Talking Machine" the author describes how to make a cutting stylus and replacement holder from cheap crafts store materials. I have not tried it, but it sounded like it could work as a temporary work around.
Andreas
You can make a recording stylus by taking glass and heating it up until red hot, then pulling it apart at a medium, even pace, You break off pieces of the glass rod you made, you want ones that measure about 40-41 thousandth in diameter one side will have a chip, and the other will not, you want the non chipped side. to be the cutting side. This does not yield perfect results, but it gives a good enough result to start experimenting with. And yes this is further explained in the Complete Talking Machine, which I had purchased when I was your age, and had helped me learn enough to start out.
you mean putting in a little effort and doing a little research on your own? Jesus, ain't nobody got time for that! people would rather post on a phono/gramo board and have everyone else do all the work and provide all the answers to everything! Search? what's that?
You Should experiment and try!! But do know, make them for your own enjoyment, do not make a business of it, keep it an enjoyable hobby. If you do not heed this, you will not have any blanks or records to have for your own recordings or to enjoy ever! I know, I have made lots of blanks, and do not own any good examples of what I have made myself.
I do know hot to make molded musical cylinders, I do not have the time or money for them. I would have shared a lot more secrets if it has not been for the negative of the collector crowd with making blanks. There has been more negative than positive. It cost me less to send masters to Vulcan to get made into the finished product when it comes to molded records. I originally thought I would be a good Samaritan and bring blank making to the United States I have spent lots of time and effort, and money on it, and I have never thought it has been fully appreciated. And it has never made money, take for instance the shavers and recording phonograph needs adjustment and parts, more often than a machine that only gets played once in awhile, instead of a machine that is used thousands of times a year! You all can sit back and pick out flaws, and things, but when it comes to actually reproducing what I do, people find it is harder than it looks. The molds must be adjustable as even batches made exactly the same, will shrink at different rates, to make good blanks, the temperatures are near the point of the compound catching on fire, which it does do, and it can be explosive sometimes as well, I have burns to prove it, and no matter how much PPE you Will still get burned, and it makes the burns much worse as the wax usually melts the PPE to your skin Leather is the best I have found). . I have a daughter and so I do not have much disposable income anymore. I still though think for one person, to make from 500-1000 of something per year is pretty good. . I think that making molded records for yourself will provide hours of wonderful learning, and it may take 10-20 years, to get to a point of learning one tenth of Jonas Aylsworth, Theo Wangemann Walter Miller knew. Remember these Edison employees had a free country, almost unlimited funds, a huge machine shop, and a time when you could easily obtain any chemical, (even Radium LOL) or wax, without fear, in fact a few of the components used to make good wax are no longer available in there 19th century form. You all have no idea how many thousands of hours I have devoted to this study, and I still learn something new every time. But the collector politics is getting old.
i wouldnt even know how to make a business from it i have always wondered why people kept secrets within the hobby but some people (no-one i have encountered on this forum im glad to say) cannot be trusted and keep trying to take tips from what people say, i dont like it when people keep secrets but sometimes the few ruin it for the majority.
also thanks for the tip on the stylus! i may give that a go, any ideas where i can find a glass rod and what is the best way to heat the rod to a sufficient temperature?
thanks
I think Hobby Lobby has some, but I am sure there are glass shops where you are in the UK. . I purchased a wooden barrel at an auction a few years ago for 50 cents that had rather large glass rods in it, and used some of them. I have made round playback styluses with broken glass, from non safety glass odds and ends, by taking a lighter, and heating it up to form spheres, and even by taking two pliers and heating it cherry red and pulling apart, but a round rod will work for a cutter ..40 thousands in diameter.
kirtley2012 wrote:also thanks for the tip on the stylus! i may give that a go, any ideas where i can find a glass rod and what is the best way to heat the rod to a sufficient temperature?
thanks
I know this is a bit of a late response, but I am in exactly the same position as you (I have three Edison recording heads, two with excellent diaphragms, none with a cutting stylus) and recently found a source of thin glass rod on ebay:
If you can't order them from that supplier for some reason (unlikely as it's a UK supplier and you're UK-based, I note), simply search for 'Bullseye Fusing Glass Stringers' - the link above is to a pack which contains random thicknesses varying from 0.7mm to 1.7mm, so I'm hoping one will be 1mm, the thickness required for a cutting stylus (and thus obviating the need to heat and stretch a thicker piece). I've not yet received them having only placed my order yesterday, but when they arrive and I sort out fixing a recorder, I'll update here.
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, i know it is common for the stili and holders to fall off and people end up with the bodys however does anyone have the opposite, does anyone have the stylus and holder alone that i can buy, i am experimenting with homemade items and i made a recording although it was INCREDIBLY quiet, you had to put your head in the horn and strain to hear it (the stylus wasnt cutting into the wax very much) so untill i can get the new stili and holders i may try to buy a original to experiment with.
