I have purchased "thorn" type needles form the Camera Centre and have been very pleased with them. They are a reasonable cost and can be resharpened many times with the correct device.
I have tried their "fibre" needles and I just couldn't get on with them at all..but that was probably down to my inexperience in using those types of point more than anything.
For fear of drifting completly off thread and into an area worthy of its own thread...I have to say I prefer the thorn type of needle...they are far more forgiving for the novice user and for records not in immaculate condition.
Bamboo is an extremely hard substance. I think if I was going to build a device to make bamboo needles, I would use something more substantial than razor blades to form the sides. It seems to me that razor blades would be subject to too much flexing and would likely chatter especially when becoming dull. I would envision three plane blades staggered so that only one side of the needle was being cut at a time, and a corresponding guide groove that the bamboo stick would travel through, each side of which would change from square to angled as the bamboo was formed under each blade. This would ensure that the bamboo was fully supported against each blade as it was being cut and that providing the blades are set at the correct height, that the formed needle would be the correct size and shape when it left the contraption. Plane blades would be easily adjustable and re-sharpenable, too. I would think that skewing the blades slightly against the grain of the bamboo would make for a cleaner cut with less friction/heat build-up. In true Tesla fashion, I'm only designing this in my head!
John M
"All of us have a place in history. Mine is clouds." Richard Brautigan
JohnM wrote:Bamboo is an extremely hard substance. I think if I was going to build a device to make bamboo needles, I would use something more substantial than razor blades to form the sides.
I agree—if you’re only making a couple of needles, a razor blade or X-Acto knife may well do the trick, but I doubt that you’d get good results using razor blades if you make them in any quantity.
Does anyone still make bamboo needles in bulk, these days?
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