Wine Bottle Cork: Salvaging Old Unused Needles

[Lah Ca]

I have read the advice many times in various places that one should not use the old needles that come with the purchase of a machine or the ones that come in old needle tins or the ones found inside a newly purchased machine. By and large based on my albeit still limited experience, I would say this is very good general advice. The needles found inside a machine will always be a mix of dropped used ones and spills/drops of new ones. The needles in old tins seem to be similar-people seem to have dropped used needles back into the tin with new needles. Also old needles, including NOS ones, often have corrosion on their tips that may or may not be visible to the naked eye.

Nonetheless, despite this good advice, I find it an interesting pass time to do an archaeological exploration of caches of old needles. Things get added to my personal museum/collection of different types of needles--and there are so many different types. And many needles are salvageable.

As I have mentioned elsewhere here, I use a jeweller's loupe to cull needles, even/especially new needles, many of which (depending upon their source) have badly malformed tips--I will sometimes skip this culling for needles from highly trusted, known-good sources.

I do the same with old needles. It is very easy to differentiate between a used needle and an unused one using the loupe.

I also use a cork from a wine bottle (Henkel Trocken pictured below but not necessarily or especially endorsed ) to polish needles which have seemingly corroded tips. I push the needle fairly deeply into the cork and rotate them back and forth 15 to 20 times vigorously. Needles, to greater or lesser degree individually, are magnetic being ferrous metal, their tips are magnetic poles, and so flakes of plating and corrosion are attracted to them. Such flakes remain trapped in the cork, and if there is actual corrosion, anything loose enough that it might fall off, it is also removed by the cork, the loose flakes anyway. The needles can then be reassessed with the jeweller's loupe. Many that would have been deemed culls on first inspection are found to be quite serviceable after the cork polish.

I also use the cork on all new steel needles before playing a record. Even with the absolute best of steel needles, I still find small fragments of metal caught on the poles/tips of the needles. These are always removed by the cork.

The needle stuck in the cork below is a lone example of a type I have never seen before. The shaft becomes slightly more bulbous as it approaches the tip. I haven't tried it out yet. If will definitely go into my collection.

[Inigo]

I also keep a glass pot with rare used needles... Seems we are all cut by the same template...

[PeterF]

Always assume a stray needle is used, and don’t use it again. Most needles will tell you their condition with this simple test:

Hold the needle, point outward, between thumb and index finger. Hold it in sunlight or other bright light, then roll it between your fingers while focusing on the needle tip.

If it’s used, you’ll catch a momentary flash of light off the tip as you rotate it. This is the reflection off the worn flat facet from use. And the sharp edge of that facet is what kills records when you try to play them with a used needle (unless you get lucky and accidentally mount it in the same alignment as the prior use).

[Lah Ca]

Always assume a stray needle is used, and don’t use it again.

Absolute best general advice if you do not have other means of determining whether a needle has been used or not. Err on the side of caution. Steel needles, even best quality ones, are not expensive. Why damage a record in am easily preventable accident?

However, I have long used my jeweller's loupe for monitoring the condition of and assisting in the cleaning of the styli of my phono cartridges which are a lot smaller than steel needles. Comparatively, it is very easy to determine whether a needle has been used or not by viewing its tip with a 20x loupe. The wear, even on so-called multi-use needles, is quite obvious, even after a single play.

[travisgreyfox]

Its hard for me to concentrate on what is being said about not destroying records with dull needles while seeing Peter's avatar out of the corner of my eye.

[PeterF]

Mission: accomplished!

[Inigo]

I love this gif file of PeterF...
there are many in the web made out of this scene, while the gramophone seems to be playing any of the nonsense modern blabbadda songs, getting Mary irritated when she comes by the gramophone, looks angrily at it, launches huskily the soundbox up, and smashes the record... I love this scene!!!

[PeterF]

Well, the actual context of the scene, from Frank Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life,” is this…

- she has invited her beau over

- she has set “their song” (Buffalo Gals) to play on the victrola

- when he arrives he is deeply distracted and disengaged (for reasons not involving her)

- they fight and he storms out

- she’s frustrated and notices the special song is still playing

- she seizes the record and smashes it

This film is an American classic and is a traditional family movie at Christmas time. I’m sure you can find it online. The story is timeless and beautiful, and the characters are played with excellence by an exceptional cast.

[Inigo]

yes... In the Spanish tv they always programme it for Christmas time, but not only that... in Movistar channels it appears again from time to time... it's a classic, and for my taste, the best one of Capra's....