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I tried the "fingernail test" on the Edison stylus, and it seemed to pass. "Light" is a relative term, and I could get my fingernail to scratch if I pressed harder..."harder" being relative also. So in my version of "light", it did not seem to scratch.

I don't have any Edison disks, but I have a broken 78, so I rested the point on the "ungrooved" area and spun the platter...it did put some light scratches there..but then I thought the 78 may be made out of softer material since it's a newer one from probably the late 40's, so that might not be a good test.

Are Edison records made out of a harder material than 78's? I'm guessing they are, since I've read that early 78's are made of harder material than later 78's, but it's only a guess.

Since the record I was fooling with was broken anyways, I stuck the Edison point in a groove just to see what would happen, and oddly enough, it TRIED to play the record..even with no string in the stylus. It's sounded like crapola, but there must have been just enough vibration going through the stylus bracket and reproducer head to make some sound. I could definitely make out the music and what was being sung. Quite interesting.

The fingarnail is softer than the surface of an Edison Diamond Disc, but I will remember that test and use it.Not sure if you are familiar with the different types of records, some are recorded "laterally"-- side to side, and some are recorded "vertically"-- up and down. The grooves in the regular 78 are side to side and Edisons are vertical or up and down. Because of this difference in motion, the Edison stylus will not pick up the vibrations on a regular shellac 78.

mikejk wrote:The fingarnail is softer than the surface of an Edison Diamond Disc, but I will remember that test and use it.Not sure if you are familiar with the different types of records, some are recorded "laterally"-- side to side, and some are recorded "vertically"-- up and down. The grooves in the regular 78 are side to side and Edisons are vertical or up and down. Because of this difference in motion, the Edison stylus will not pick up the vibrations on a regular shellac 78.

I had read that they were cut differently, but the Edison side was picking up something, even if it wasn't good. I was able to make out music and voice..and that was with no string. I was just screwing around with it since the record was already broken. It only has about an inch and a half or so of grooves near the middle. I knew it wouldn't sound any good. My main experiment was to see if the Edison stylus would scratch the smooth part of the record surface. Then I figured my experiment probably wasn't any good because the record material was probably softer than an Edison disc. The machine is coming along. My wife put new thinner cloth in the "speaker" grille, not historically accurate, but somewhat "period" correct, and I made up a jig to cut a round piece of felt for the turntable and glued that on. Next up is probably replacing the leather on the "brakes" for the turntable and the speed governor. On some older records the sound is a little "wobbly", which I figure might have something to do with the leather on the speed governor being a little stiff. I've soaked with with "neet's foot oil" but I think just changing it out would be quicker and more effective. Of course the "wobbly" sound might just have to do with the individual records too.

carylee,
Sounds like your coming along with the Brunswick. I sent out the needle bar. Sent another PM. Mike