Westrex 3D IIa cutter head. Underside view showing vacuum suction tube, stylus, advance ball ass'y.

Astatic x-26

• These were used in many of the older suitcase style recorders.  They are usually powered by a rochelle salt crystal that is almost 100% guaranteed to have corroded since the 1940s/50s when they were made and thus not functional.  To get them rebuilt contact Gib at http://www.west-techservices.com/  These heads are fragile and can easily be overloaded so don't crank it up too loud.  If the sound from the head is distorted you are overloading it.

    Removal

• "First, if there is a stylus setscrew, remove it. In the GI machine cutting arm, there is an adjustable spring at the back of the arm used to set cutting depth. Unhook that spring from the plate bolted to the top of the cutting head (may be a bit difficult). Small needlenose pliers work best for this. That will release the head from the suspension clip and the head should drop out of the arm. The wires can be unsoldered from the terminals you will see at the back of the head, but you probably could cut them close to the head as I think Gib replaces this part as well during the rebuild. Don't cut too much wire and dress the ends, removing about 1/8" of insulation so you can re-solder when the head is returned. The X26 heads run on about 180VRMS, which is taken off the plate(s) of the output tube(s) (depending on whether the amp is push-pull or not) so make sure the unit isn't powered on when doing this. It probably wouldn't hurt you too much because it's generated by modulated audio output, but don't take a chance." post by emmoritt from the post "Removing Cutting Head"

   Materials you can cut

• The X-26 was intended to cut lacquer blanks.  People have had luck cutting plastic solo plates with them as well.  It has been reported that the x 26
  is not heavy enough to cut lexan (polycarbonate) or pvc plastic.