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I found this flyer tucked in the drawer of my 1910 L-Door.

Interesting how they recommend that you have to "train your records" to use Fibre Needles.
Also interesting that they recommend Victor #1 Fibre Needles First, then Victor #2 Fibre Needles.

Cheers, Bob S.

I wonder what the "training" would accomplish?

Clay

FloridaClay wrote:I wonder what the "training" would accomplish?

Clay

Maybe a newly pressed record surface is has to be burnished a few times before it is smooth enough to allow a fibre needle to make it through a tune.

It often does take several plays with those bamboo needles before the record will play all the way through before the end of the needle goes south and it needs to be re-sharpened. I don't know what those needles do to the record groove, but they must do something in the "training". Polish the groove some I would suppose.

I think the text was written generically for the public. It gets them to perform a needed task without explanation. By using the word “training” it makes the act easier to do. After all, they are the experts.

To “train” your record is friendlier than to do what I think its intent is, and that is to plow the groove. Other than wiping the surface of the records, I do not believe that folks cleaned them as we now do. So while the surface looked clean, the debris in the groove would eat at the bamboo point. Once this cleansing process has been completed the other needle is ready for use.

There is no need to complicate matters by saying, “skip this step if your starting off with a new record.” It’s the same for “training” everybody. The same profit for the seller.

This is only my humble opinion.

I do a similar process when I get a disc. After washing it, I use a cactus needle the plow any remaining crud out.

James.

after cleaning a record I apply a fluorocarbon powder or spray. These form a very thin, ultra-slick membrane on the record which I believe not only helps preserve them, but also clearly makes them "slicker" and a little quieter in terms of hiss.

I spent my working career in the ski business when we were developing fluorocarbon application, so this seemed an interesting a logical extension of what we were doing.

I use a block fluoro from Swix or Toko, and I'm still playing with ways to apply it: crayon it on by swiping the block across the record, then using a brush to spread it as the record spins, then a bamboo needle to "fix" it. There are also fluoro sprays, and I've tried both spraying the record then brushing and "needling"it, and spraying the brush which I then polish the record with as it spins.

Fluoros are pretty pricey, but a little bit goes a very long way, and I was able to get my old supplier to gift me a little to mess with.

Being somewhat into needle's tin collection (well, not really, but I have some) I have never seen such a thing as a N°1 and a N°2 fibre needle tin. All HMV fibre needles tin only say "FIBRE NEEDLES" on the tin, at least in my experience. This document seems to be somewhat contradictory. How is it that they suggest to use a range of products that they were not actually producing?

I have a couple of these envelopes of Victor Fibre Needles, but both are labeled as "No.1."

George P.

Please refer to the following thread I started from 04/13/2015 for pictures of No. 1 and No. 2 boxes. http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... 79#p126179 I have since discovered an outer box (not mine) to hold the yellow No. 2 inner box.

Bob

I seem to understand that N°1 and N°2 came in boxes and not in tins. Anyone has any idea wether the tins or the boxes came first? That is if N°1 and N°2 were later unified as the distinction was proven to be not significant, or the opposite?