Fidelity Research FR-7 Repair

Soundsmith said that the aluminum they use is not the same as the aluminum that the original cantilever was made from

Exactly, those aluminum cantilevers on Ikeda and Takeda cartridges are special and this is one of the reason those FR-7fz and Miyabi are so good (don't mix it up with conventional aluminum cantilevers anyone can buy today). Also aluminum is easier to work with for cartridge designers according to Mr. Andreoli. In Japan aluminum still a good choice for cartridges like Miyajima Kansui and its designer said Boron doesn't improve anything (at least for him). 

I assume that re-tippers simply can't get equal aluminum cantilevers anymore (for a long time) and they can get only what is available (Boron Rob, Ruby, Sapphile or dirt cheap aluminum). 

What is NEW from those jewel companies is Zirconia Pipe cantilever.   
Well, at least something new! 

That's interesting. I think it's great that there's still movement in this area. Thanks for posting that information. Soundsmith said that the aluminum they had access to was softer, hence boron being a better choice.

I own an Ebony view camera and was sad when Hiromi Sakanashi closed down Ebony a few years ago. Luckily there are a few places still making view cameras cameras, but it's very niche as digital has taken over. When my Ebony got damaged in Death Valley, I sent it to Canham cameras for repair. Thankfully.

I think turntables are still niche, but there's still a lot of sales activity in that area. I meet lots of tech people here in Seattle that own a turntable to go along with their streaming setups. 

Would be nice to check an image of your refurbished cartridge if you can make a high res and upload it somewhere. 

Letch mentioned to own FR-64 . If so then he owns FR-64 with
aluminum wands . The lateral balance is also different from 64S.
Anyway if the spindle to pivot distance is right he can fasten his
FR-7 direct to the arm without any  tractor. After all he has chosen
Stevenson geometry. 

I'll post pics when I get it back. And yes, I have the regular FR-64, not the S. A friend whose going to help me setup the cartridge told me he has a protractor so I didn't buy the Dr. Feickart. For a long time I was running various carts in a Orsonic headshell so all the arm stuff is going to have be re-done.