> FAQ

    • MANUAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR DIAMOND STYLUS

    • AND

    BLANK RECORDS

     Those tips are adapted for the material you can buy on http://www.myshank.com

    Adjust your lathe with others material at your own risk.

     

    BLANKS

     

    • The depth of groove attained with a diamond stylus is dependent on the blank you are cutting
    • First tip : Cutting room temperature setpoint : 25°C

     

    • 1-1 – MyShank blanks- 
    • - Never heat the plate without blank on it, or it will warp. Wait few minutes between 2 blanks, let drive down the temperature, put a blank, and start your new cut
    • - Blank heating : Don’t need to go up to 45°C

                                                               infrared thermometer

    • - Add some liquid wax on the surface before cutting with cotton wool

                                                             wax

    • - Width groove : 50um/100um

     

    Too widthToo width

          good groovesGood Grooves

     

     

    • Following these tips you should attain very low noise, as  low as laquers. Our blanks are easy to cut enabling you between 250 and 300 hours with one stylus depending on volume and stereo... dependent on achieving the correct adjustments.

     

    • 1-2 - Suction :
    • - A problem caused by static in the vacuum tube. It can be alleviated  by using antistatic liquid and talcum powder.
    • - Diamonds are actually insulators; they do not conduct electricity or static charges
    • - Adjust the distance between the suction tube and the stylus and blank to between 1 and 2mm. This is important to alleviate background noise.

                                                        vacccum

     

    DIAMOND CUTTING STYLUS 

    (with MyShank Blanks)


    ALL STYLUS HAVE TO BE ADJUSTED WITH MICROSCOPE BEFORE USE

    • -  Avoid to touch the diamond too with finger, there is no big risk, but, there is one ;)
    • -  Adjust correctly the stylus in your cutting head. Mirror surface front to the blank rotation.
    • -  Cutting angle : 10° (MAX). A wider angle will damage your stylus or reduce stylus lifespan, whatever model, P/S or classical series

                                                            cutting angle

    • -  For people who don’t have micrometer scale, use a spring scale and adjust the weight of the head to 14g MAX when lowered on the record (of course plate doesn’t turn during adjustments)

                                                                                              scale

    • -  If you don’t have a dashpot or spring oil on your cutting lathe, be careful when placing the stylus down on the record.
    • -  Stylus heating : The more you heat the blank the less the stylus has to be heated. Increase the heat on the stylus with caution, as  you cut. Don’t overheat as it will cause problems. Proceed carefully, a blank is cheaper than a stylus ;)

                                                        Heating wire

    • -  Grooves width : from 50 to 100 um
    • -  Cleaning : Clean your stylus from the body to the tip with the stylus cleaner found on our website. Apply softly using a Q-tip. Never use acetone. Follow these instructions and there will be no risk to the stylus.  Never ever touch the diamond with any metal parts and never use the same Q-tip twice.

                                                        cleaner

                                                            diamond cutting stylus tip

    • - With soft blanks and nice adjusments, our diamond stylus are able to cut more than 250 hours!

                                                         Head

    FOR VINYLRECORDER T560 USERS

    Chapter 1 : 

    Adjust the head parallel to the blank. Take a graduate guide or our cutting angle setup if you have it
    Cutting head must be at the same distance from the blank when stylus is touching the record
    Be careful by doing that. Always Pulled down, check pull up, adjust, pulled down, check, do it again if necessary.

                                                     

    Chapter 2 : 

    - Step1 : Take a guide and make a mark with a cutter from the center hole to the outside

                                                    
    - Step 2 : Pull the record on your lathe, take a square, adjust with the square the line you did before perpendicular to the turntable. THEN DON’T TOUCH ANYMORE THE TURNTABLE. IT MUST STAY IN THE SAME POSITION.

                                                    


    - Step 3 : unscrew the overhead under the big plate. Move the overhead until your stylus is on the line. Of course don’t move the over head when the head is pulled down… Always pull up the head, adjust, pulled down, check, do it again if necessary
    The stylus must be on this line from the start to the end (use the black wheel to move the head to check that). So adjust very precisely. Could take time.


        
    Once everything’s done, check all the weight. Counter weight at first, then weight of the head

    The dashpot must be free moving. No tension into it.

    Come back to us if you need more explain.