Hi from Chris Cables

[Chris Cables]

Hi and welcome from me!
I see some familiar handles here and was referred to this forum by an associate over on 'TH'. (I'm ChrisNAK' there)

I'm a semi-retired nuclear/aerospace engineering/PM consultant slipping nicely into early retirement with the formation of 'Chris Cables' - a life-long hobby tinkering with cables which recently converted into my primary occupation. It's going better than expected and keeping me very busy!

I'm from the UK originally but currently reside in sunny Vleuten, NL. As a keen cyclist this is probably one of the best places to bike around, so for now I'll call it 'home'.
Tapes, tubes, headphones and transformers! Always looking to learn more on these subjects. I'm a big Nakamichi fan and have a decent little collection of tapedecks, including my coveted Dragon which never fails to impress with its' sonic abilities. I'm currently restoring about 10 Nak decks and 13 Yamaha decks for fun and learning.
A Sennheiser HD5** (made in Ireland era) fanboy and there are about 36 restored-by-me examples of these lovely headphones stashed away in boxes waiting for me to decide what in the jiggery pokery I'm going to do with them.
Any suggestions?

Looks like a great forum and hoping to share knowledge and learn new things...
I hope a sense of humour is welcome here? Not mentioning any names of course but ffs, some forums I'm a member of are just totally devoid of any humour and even light/inoffensive sarcasm can get your posts deleted or even a ban! How does the comedy land lay here?

 

[J!m]

Welcome!

a sense of humor- or at least a thick skin- are membership requirements.

 

[Chris Cables]

Welcome!

a sense of humor- or at least a thick skin- are membership requirements.

G'day Jim. A familiar face!
I would have thought that sometimes both need to go go hand-in-hand

 

[Rat44]

Welcome aboard Chris.
Lots of good people here.
And yes , a sense of humor is actually encouraged here.
You will fit right in.

 

[Elite-ist]

Very good to see you join us, Chris. Quite the opposite on our forum - lack of humour and an adherence to strict civility can lead to a stern warning from one our esteemed moderators. There will be many topics, already up your alley, to jump in on and contribute to.

Nando.

 

[Chris Cables]

Very good to see you join us, Chris. Quite the opposite on our forum - lack of humour and an adherence to strict civility can lead to a stern warning from one our esteemed moderators. There will be many topics, already up your alley, to jump in on and contribute to.

Nando.

Good to hear Nando!

 

[Elite-ist]

Might be time for another mix tape exchange, too, Chris. I have completed the Master on my newest project.

Nando.

 

[Chris Cables]

Might be time for another mix tape exchange, too, Chris. I have completed the Master on my newest project.

Nando.

Sounds good!
Any suggestions for tape type? Maybe a type II this time?

 

[Vintage 700b]

Welcome Aboard Chris,
Yes, a sense of humor is always welcome here. We know how to enjoy life, and get down to some serious electronics fun as well.
You will fit in nicely!
Enjoy.

 

[Elite-ist]

@Chris Cables - Sure - a nice premium Type II recorded without NR would be a good choice, Chris. I have two other tapes to record before I get to doing one for you.

Nando

 

[Chris Cables]

Welcome aboard Chris.
Lots of good people here.
And yes , a sense of humor is actually encouraged here.
You will fit right in.

thanks buddy!

Welcome Aboard Chris,
Yes, a sense of humor is always welcome here. We know how to enjoy life, and get down to some serious electronics fun as well.
You will fit in nicely!
Enjoy.

Good to know! thanks.

...and 'Fabricator'. Metal? Any tips on the best steel type to use to recreate an IT-M300 gauge. I sent out RFQ's to some machine shops and specced st/st. Flatness is critical (0.05mm +/- 0.008mm) and has to be consistent over the shape of a (flat) tape cassette footprint.

 

[Chris Cables]

Might be time for another mix tape exchange, too, Chris. I have completed the Master on my newest project.

Nando.

No worries Nando. Chock-a-block here too with a 3 week waiting-list for cables to get through. 10-12 hour days atm. Still making time for tape tho!

 

[J!m]

thanks buddy!


Good to know! thanks.

...and 'Fabricator'. Metal? Any tips on the best steel type to use to recreate an IT-M300 gauge. I sent out RFQ's to some machine shops and specced st/st. Flatness is critical (0.05mm +/- 0.008mm) and has to be consistent over the shape of a (flat) tape cassette footprint.

View attachment 81829 View attachment 81830

D2 is a great choice but it will rust if not properly coated.

Same with 4340.

 

[Chris Cables]

D2 is a great choice but it will rust if not properly coated.

Same with 4340.

Yeah, I think that's why the original is just stainless. Any coating is just going to be subject wear from the smaller 'feeler' component sliding around on it. I also think a coating would compromise the flatness tolerance.
I've been looking for pre-rolled stainless plate with a flatness that doesn't require machining/finishing/polishing to get it into spec but it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.
The search goes on.
Getting a machine shop to commit to the spec as well as offering guarantees for the as-builts is proving to be the hardest part at the moment....

 

[mr_rye89]

Welcome Chris! You'll find we're pretty easy going around here.

 

[George S.]

I do know that Crossman pellet rifles was importing their steel for the barrels from Holland.
I asked them why and they said no US steel manufacturer could meet their precision rolling requirements and quality for the flat plate they used to form the barrels.
That flat plate was brought by ship to the Cleveland lakefront banded onto pallets. I'd pick it up occasionally and truck it up to Crossman in Western NY.
Ohio and Michigan still have some factories producing auto parts, and there are support businesses doing precision grinding for the tooling.
Precision grinding would probably be your best bet for plate thickness accuracy.
But how are you going to compete with the M-300 plates coming out of China?
Are they really that bad?
Oh, and welcome to Phoenix!

 

[gene french]

welcome...

 

[Chris Cables]

Welcome Chris! You'll find we're pretty easy going around here.

Good to know...and 'Land of Entrapment' lol. Amurrca then?

I do know that Crossman pellet rifles was importing their steel for the barrels from Holland.
I asked them why and they said no US steel manufacturer could meet their precision rolling requirements and quality for the flat plate they used to form the barrels.
That flat plate was brought by ship to the Cleveland lakefront banded onto pallets. I'd pick it up occasionally and truck it up to Crossman in Western NY.
Ohio and Michigan still have some factories producing auto parts, and there are support businesses doing precision grinding for the tooling.
Precision grinding would probably be your best bet for plate thickness accuracy.
But how are you going to compete with the M-300 plates coming out of China?
Are they really that bad?
Oh, and welcome to Phoenix!

Amazing that no losses/deformations were incurred coming over by ship (corrosive atmosphere), then subjected to lift/moving operations while stacked. They must have put a lot of mitigations in place to offset those risks I imagine.

The Chinesium gauges are okay for roller height and head depth-penetration but for head-height they're about as useful as a chocolate teapot.
I bought one for shits n giggles. I think it was about $30 before they actually got popular, as they're more expensive now. I borrowed a height gauge and it was all over the place, especially around the cut-outs near the bottom.
Head-height is the most useful function of that gauge so they're hit and miss at best, but always inconsistent - so why bother. You can measure the effect of a poor azimuth/tilt alignment in microns and when those Chinese gauges are out by .01mm well......

welcome...

thx

 

[mr_rye89]

Not just 'Murica, New Mexico..

 

[20tajk7]

Welcome to Phoenix !