Sparky's Fabulous DIY Stylus Microscope
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HI All,
It makes me very happy that this project is being well received. Guy's, thanks for the good words. However, the real pay off for me is if a number of people actually build it.
Nailer and Badger seem to to want to build the project. I hope they do. I hope they can improve it. I can hardly wait to see their results. I will help any way I can. I'm also curious to see if anyone can adapt the design to a computer based instrument. I did not try to do this because I have not been impressed by the plastic computer microscopes I have seen.
In truth, I want a lot of people to build it.
Why? Because it is a very powerful tool. It's one you will use for a life time as long as vinyl is important to you. It is a learning tool as well as a diagnostic tool. It has taught me a lot about stylus shapes, how the stylus wears, about tone arms, and about the sonic consequences of stylus wear. No longer will you have to wonder if your stylus is worn out. You can see directly the effects of skating force as you build your data base of worn out styli. You will not have to worry about your records being damaged due to a worn or damaged stylus. I consider the stylus microscope to be the most significant diagnostic tool I have had. You will not be sorry.
And you can earn huge income by selling your pictures of NUDE diamonds to Playboy
. It was famously said that diamonds are a girls best friend. Take your microscope on dates. She will be impressed to know that you are a serious audiophile. She will want to spend her life with you and have your babies. What more could you want? :thmbsp:
All this plus it is not difficult or very expensive to build.
Let's see, what else? Oh yes, it is beautiful (in a technical sort of way...you might have to use a little imagination).
Have I talked you into a build project yet?????
Sparky
It makes me very happy that this project is being well received. Guy's, thanks for the good words. However, the real pay off for me is if a number of people actually build it.
Nailer and Badger seem to to want to build the project. I hope they do. I hope they can improve it. I can hardly wait to see their results. I will help any way I can. I'm also curious to see if anyone can adapt the design to a computer based instrument. I did not try to do this because I have not been impressed by the plastic computer microscopes I have seen.
In truth, I want a lot of people to build it.
Why? Because it is a very powerful tool. It's one you will use for a life time as long as vinyl is important to you. It is a learning tool as well as a diagnostic tool. It has taught me a lot about stylus shapes, how the stylus wears, about tone arms, and about the sonic consequences of stylus wear. No longer will you have to wonder if your stylus is worn out. You can see directly the effects of skating force as you build your data base of worn out styli. You will not have to worry about your records being damaged due to a worn or damaged stylus. I consider the stylus microscope to be the most significant diagnostic tool I have had. You will not be sorry.
And you can earn huge income by selling your pictures of NUDE diamonds to Playboy
. It was famously said that diamonds are a girls best friend. Take your microscope on dates. She will be impressed to know that you are a serious audiophile. She will want to spend her life with you and have your babies. What more could you want? :thmbsp:All this plus it is not difficult or very expensive to build.
Let's see, what else? Oh yes, it is beautiful (in a technical sort of way...you might have to use a little imagination).
Have I talked you into a build project yet?????
Sparky
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BULLWINKLE
Super Member
Great thread/project Sparky!
eteller
Addicted Member
The links you provided for the eyepieces are made by Amscope, they sell a decent microscope for less than $200, a mono one can be hard for less than a $100! The 'Toys are Us' grade scopes are dismal.
www.amscope.com
www.amscope.com
HI eteller,
Yes, I was totally aware that the eyepieces are made by Amscope. Thanks for the input concerning the complete microscope. Do you know if these inexpensive microscopes have a micro adjustable stage? If not, I would pass. A used scope would probably be better.
Can you provide a link?
Thanks, Sparky
Yes, I was totally aware that the eyepieces are made by Amscope. Thanks for the input concerning the complete microscope. Do you know if these inexpensive microscopes have a micro adjustable stage? If not, I would pass. A used scope would probably be better.
Can you provide a link?
Thanks, Sparky
eteller
Addicted Member
I just bought this as a toy, and something to do with my daughter, has a mechanical stage adj., and fine focus knob.
http://store.amscope.com/b100a-ms.html
http://store.amscope.com/b100a-ms.html
HI All,
I have been in contact with John Elison over on the Audio Asylum. He has taken the project on and built a usable stylus microscope. He has not strictly followed my guidelines because the microscope is one he already owned. But it works as evidenced by the pics he sent me. The wear facets are clear.
So John receives the "First To The Post" award. Good job, John. Sorry, no money for this award.
I hope the rest of you get busy on this project and make me a happy man (you too).
Sparky
Here a couple of of John's pics. It is clearly a usable stylus inspection instrument.
I have been in contact with John Elison over on the Audio Asylum. He has taken the project on and built a usable stylus microscope. He has not strictly followed my guidelines because the microscope is one he already owned. But it works as evidenced by the pics he sent me. The wear facets are clear.
So John receives the "First To The Post" award. Good job, John. Sorry, no money for this award.
I hope the rest of you get busy on this project and make me a happy man (you too).
Sparky
Here a couple of of John's pics. It is clearly a usable stylus inspection instrument.
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HI Mutha,
I'm not sure how to respond to you except with my honest opinion. I want to make this clear to anyone who reads this thread. I would like to help people avoid solutions that I know will not accomplish the goal. If you read the article and the linked threads, you should realize this. Maybe I need to learn to write better.
I did not mean to insult you. Your input is valuable because it shows what will not work. Most folks do not have a good feel for the difficulty of the problem. How could they? They have never been able to view a stylus under the right conditions to see wear.
Anyway, I am sorry for the insult. I did not intend it.
Sparky
I'm not sure how to respond to you except with my honest opinion. I want to make this clear to anyone who reads this thread. I would like to help people avoid solutions that I know will not accomplish the goal. If you read the article and the linked threads, you should realize this. Maybe I need to learn to write better.
I did not mean to insult you. Your input is valuable because it shows what will not work. Most folks do not have a good feel for the difficulty of the problem. How could they? They have never been able to view a stylus under the right conditions to see wear.
Anyway, I am sorry for the insult. I did not intend it.
Sparky
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HI All,
When Mutha kindly removed his pictures which were really messing up the way this thread displayed, he removed all references to his post.
So, if you want to see what his idea is, here is a link to his thread in the main Turntable forum.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=231903
Sparky
When Mutha kindly removed his pictures which were really messing up the way this thread displayed, he removed all references to his post.
So, if you want to see what his idea is, here is a link to his thread in the main Turntable forum.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=231903
Sparky
shimniok
Super Member
Great info! Thanks! I finally built mine. I built it out of 1/4" furniture plywood with 3/4" square hemlock stock I have laying around to affix the bottom to the uprights. Using the recommended 20W halogens
Microscope: Supertek student microscope, monocular, 4x, 10x, 40x objectives, 15x eyepiece, coarse/fine focus, and non-adjustable stage which is VERY TEDIOUS to use, so I will be building or buying an adjustable stage in the very near future, believe me!!
Lighting: ACE hardware 20W halogen under-counter lights, white
These pics aren't as clear as what I am seeing through the scope and for now am limited to a 15x eyepiece and 10x objective so not quite at the requisite 200x. Nevertheless, after looking at several styli, I am seeing what I am expecting to and the facets look like the Shure stylus microscope owner manual says they should look like. So I think I am on the right track. ---comments?
Pic of AT DR300E stylus of unknown history. It looks like there are wear facets here. In the scope the image is sharp and shows two rectangular swaths of light.
Pic of Ortofon DN155E that was on my Dual 622 for, as far as I know, 30 years according to the original owner that I got it from. Looks to me like the wear facets are wide and flat compared to the other styli. I am referring to the wide, silver polished looking area. That area lit up more with some additional manipulation of position so I am pretty sure that entire area represents wear facets...
Pic of Ortofon DN150E that I bought new and according to my stylus hour meter has about 100 hrs on it. Compared to the others, this image looked like there were no wear facets. I am not sure why I see two dots on each side.
Pic of a Stanton D72E to me shows massive wear facet on one side and much less on the other -- indicative of poor or nonexistent anti-skate. Rotating 30° and tilting on the plane of the microscope stage didn't change the image.
Microscope: Supertek student microscope, monocular, 4x, 10x, 40x objectives, 15x eyepiece, coarse/fine focus, and non-adjustable stage which is VERY TEDIOUS to use, so I will be building or buying an adjustable stage in the very near future, believe me!!
Lighting: ACE hardware 20W halogen under-counter lights, white
These pics aren't as clear as what I am seeing through the scope and for now am limited to a 15x eyepiece and 10x objective so not quite at the requisite 200x. Nevertheless, after looking at several styli, I am seeing what I am expecting to and the facets look like the Shure stylus microscope owner manual says they should look like. So I think I am on the right track. ---comments?
Pic of AT DR300E stylus of unknown history. It looks like there are wear facets here. In the scope the image is sharp and shows two rectangular swaths of light.
Pic of Ortofon DN155E that was on my Dual 622 for, as far as I know, 30 years according to the original owner that I got it from. Looks to me like the wear facets are wide and flat compared to the other styli. I am referring to the wide, silver polished looking area. That area lit up more with some additional manipulation of position so I am pretty sure that entire area represents wear facets...
Pic of Ortofon DN150E that I bought new and according to my stylus hour meter has about 100 hrs on it. Compared to the others, this image looked like there were no wear facets. I am not sure why I see two dots on each side.
Pic of a Stanton D72E to me shows massive wear facet on one side and much less on the other -- indicative of poor or nonexistent anti-skate. Rotating 30° and tilting on the plane of the microscope stage didn't change the image.
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HI shimniok,
I came home from work today; tired. Been working outside all day on an instrumentation trailer. Difficult problems. It was 100 degrees; hotter in the trailer. I'm wilted. I'm an inside worker. Not used to this. Popped the computer on to do my daily survey with no expectations. And I find your post here. WOW!! My weariness just melted away.
Good, good, good. Someone finally built the stylus microscope. And you used the suggested lighting technique which I maintain is better than the point-source illumination others are using. The results look good, very good, the best I have seen. You have it, my friend. You have a life-long tool. I am very happy for both of us.
Comments: your results are definitely useful. The wear facets are clear. I don't know what to say about the last pic. It looks like an invader from outer space ready to devastate a city. Do you think it is catching? I would quarantine it.
I would still suggest that you persue the suggested magnifications I outline in the article. They will make your scope both more useful and easier to use.
Other than those, I have no more to say. You did a good job and I hope your success wil inspire others to do the same thing.
I wonder if you could give more detail about the microscope you are using, the eyepieces, and the objective lenses? Your pics in your post are rather small. Do you have a micrometer adjustable stage? Is it practical for you to change the eye pieces? Specifically, what lamps are you using? They look like the ones I used but a different color. Are they? All of this info might help others who are considering this project. Any other comments you might have concerning the project are appreciated.
Thanks for posting. :thmbsp:
Sparky
I came home from work today; tired. Been working outside all day on an instrumentation trailer. Difficult problems. It was 100 degrees; hotter in the trailer. I'm wilted. I'm an inside worker. Not used to this. Popped the computer on to do my daily survey with no expectations. And I find your post here. WOW!! My weariness just melted away.
Good, good, good. Someone finally built the stylus microscope. And you used the suggested lighting technique which I maintain is better than the point-source illumination others are using. The results look good, very good, the best I have seen. You have it, my friend. You have a life-long tool. I am very happy for both of us.
Comments: your results are definitely useful. The wear facets are clear. I don't know what to say about the last pic. It looks like an invader from outer space ready to devastate a city. Do you think it is catching? I would quarantine it.
I would still suggest that you persue the suggested magnifications I outline in the article. They will make your scope both more useful and easier to use.
Other than those, I have no more to say. You did a good job and I hope your success wil inspire others to do the same thing.
I wonder if you could give more detail about the microscope you are using, the eyepieces, and the objective lenses? Your pics in your post are rather small. Do you have a micrometer adjustable stage? Is it practical for you to change the eye pieces? Specifically, what lamps are you using? They look like the ones I used but a different color. Are they? All of this info might help others who are considering this project. Any other comments you might have concerning the project are appreciated.
Thanks for posting. :thmbsp:
Sparky
totallysilly
Active Member
Hi! Sorry to post the dumbest questions yet in this thread; if they're not welcome, feel free to ignore!
1) Would anyone here consider building and selling stylus microscopes as fully assembled units?
2) The last post made me realize that I wouldn't know stylus wear even if I could see it! The last picture is obvious, but with the first few I Really don't see what's being talked about. And the one that he says is almost new looks to me like the one with the most wear, since its surface appears rough. Can someone please offer a little more information just to help me understand how I can interpret correctly an image or view of a stylus? Thanks so much!
1) Would anyone here consider building and selling stylus microscopes as fully assembled units?
2) The last post made me realize that I wouldn't know stylus wear even if I could see it! The last picture is obvious, but with the first few I Really don't see what's being talked about. And the one that he says is almost new looks to me like the one with the most wear, since its surface appears rough. Can someone please offer a little more information just to help me understand how I can interpret correctly an image or view of a stylus? Thanks so much!
HI totallysilly (what a handle!!),
Rather than me spending a bunch of time trying to explain, I suggest that you read the Stylus Microscope project post. At the beginning I give links to historical Audio Karma threads that explains much of what follows in the project thread. That is the reason I included the links. If you still have questions, I will be more than happy to try to clear them up.
Suffice to say that if you have never seen stylus wear through a good microscope, it is very hard to imagine what stylus wear really looks like. Don't feel alone. Almost nobody initially knows what to look for. Even after you have a microscope, it takes a bit of experience to interpret what the scope shows. But once you understand, it is really easy.
Sparky
Rather than me spending a bunch of time trying to explain, I suggest that you read the Stylus Microscope project post. At the beginning I give links to historical Audio Karma threads that explains much of what follows in the project thread. That is the reason I included the links. If you still have questions, I will be more than happy to try to clear them up.
Suffice to say that if you have never seen stylus wear through a good microscope, it is very hard to imagine what stylus wear really looks like. Don't feel alone. Almost nobody initially knows what to look for. Even after you have a microscope, it takes a bit of experience to interpret what the scope shows. But once you understand, it is really easy.
Sparky
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