Re: the job done on my TNT, the sapphire crystal may very well have been a watch crystal. I didn’t know very much about this stuff then and I placed my trust in the guy who did it. He had some very favorable reviews and certainly knew what he was doing.
When I say that the lubricant he supplied was very thick and made the TT take a very long time to settle into the bearing, I mean a VERY long time. It was a while back, but I believe it took well over an hour.
Finally, it was clear that my thrust plate was worn. That was more easily seen even than wear on the ball. If you just replace the ball you haven’t really done the whole job. Not to mention the possibility of better materials.
For those with newer VPI inverted bearings, know that the older ones (which I think are better because the ball and plate are in an oil bath) are far more easily worked on as the bearing thrust plate can simply be unscrewed from the rest of the bearing. In fact, now that I know better what is actually done, I think it’s a pretty easy DIY job to replace ball and plate. I wonder what the NJ guy would charge.
