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Recently, I discovered some small boxes of glass needles. On the lid (in English) is written 200 Glass Needles.
I have asked several long time collectors (even in Japan), and no one has seen or heard of these before.

I discovered a listing for these in a 1920 Japanese newspaper.

By the way, the writing in Japanese is as follows:
Patent Application No. 38397
New Design Patent Application No. 88946
Four Japanese Characters around red flower means “Glass Needles”

The needles are clear glass and with a conical point, like steel needles.

I have tried one and they sound amazing.

Please, if any member has seen these before.....I would be most grateful.

I haven't heard of these before, much less seen them, but what a fascinating find! The thought of using glass against shellac seems really counterintuitive, but the needle's tip in the enlargement you posted does seem to be nicely ground to an appropriate point. I wonder if glass is as capable as steel of being ground down by the record?

I hope someone on the forum will be able to come up with additional information on these.

Cody

Well, that's new to me. Very interesting but I guess the concept did not catch on for some reason. I would not experiment with those on any of my good records.

Made from "glass noodles" ?

Thanks to all for the reply's so far. I hope a member will tell me more on these.
I have made a short test YouTube video with one.
Hope you like it.
https://youtu.be/bacvXi0uCgA

It's so hard to judge the actual sound from YouTube videos, given the vagaries of camera/microphone qualities, and so on. I'm sure I couldn't tell the difference unless it was recorded back-to-back with a steel needle playing the same record. Still, it seems to sound pretty good. A little blasty now and then, but that could be the record? (I'm sure you're a guy whose soundboxes are maintained in great shape.)

These are fascinating needles. I wonder how their flexibility compares to steel? Such a small piece of glass as that might actually compare favorably, it seems to me. The biggest problem I can think of with them is, is glass more or less resistant than steel to the abrasives in a shellac record?

In any case, quite a nice find! How many boxes of these have you found, and where did you run across them? (If you don't mind my asking...)

Thanks for posting the link to the vid. Very interesting.

Hi

Did the glass needle show similar wear to a steel needle after you played the record?

Regards Marcel

Were there any clumps of record-dust clinging to the needle-point after playing ?

De Soto Frank wrote:Were there any clumps of record-dust clinging to the needle-point after playing ?

Sorry to be so slow answering the questions asked. No internet for over 12 hours!!!!... . These days, it's hard to live without it.

To answer.... I played the record again. I did not notice any abnormal build up on the needle end.
I would have to think these glass needles are softer than steel. Mind you, the steel used is also mild.

I was more concerned with the needle shank shattering while tightening the set screw. To my surprise, that was not an issue.

Clearly, these were made for a very short time. To date, I have not heard from anyone aware of these.

It was initially assumed these needles were made during WW2 given the shortage of steel in Japan during that period.
However, the 1920 ad in a Japanese newspaper seems to undermine that assumption.

Anyone seen these..???.

I searched and found a few bits...

This is all I came up with this for Y. Mukojima. In 1921, Yuji Mukojima patented an Ink Pen
http://patent.ipexl.com/assignee/yuji_mukojima_1.html

Searching for needles yielded an 1918 ad for Doniger & Company, 3-1 Chome, Yurakucho, Kojimachi-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Contractors to the Unites States and Canadian Governments, Manufactures and Exporters of Surgical Instruments, Chemical Glassware and Apparatus, Drug Sundries, etc.
http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers ... .10.2.aspx

And more specifically this 1918 ad with a mention of glass needles. Doniger & Company information
https://books.google.com/books?id=TrlNA ... &q&f=false

James.