Walker Vortex Vacuum Wand for VPI

I can get an understanding of a re-adjustment of the Wand Tower Height, per Walker's instructions, which I read at Elusive Disc, but what isn't clear, is mention of properly aligning the Slot in Delrin Tube, so that it faces straight down towards the record.

With that being said, and for the cost that Walker is charging, which is not at all cheap for a piece of tubular Delrin, with slot, why didn't Walker then cut the proper locating Slot in the Delrin Tube End, mating correctly with the locating Pin in the VPI Wand Tower?

Probably no biggie, I know, it doesn't take a Physics Major to probably align the Tube correctly.
Maybe I should ask Lloyd Walker this question? Mark

Mark, why do you think Lloyd did not? The locating slot is machined on mine. FYI, some older towers do not have a locator pin. I have my original tower with no locator pin and a more recent tower with locator pin. But even with the locator pin, there is some tolerance for the tube to be twisted. Why does Lloyd mention installing the slot at exactly vertical? Because VPI has us trained to offset the slot a few degrees, which works best for the stock tube but not for this replacement tube. And, there are grey haired guys like me who have those original towers.

...and for the cost that Walker is charging, which is not at all cheap for a piece of tubular Delrin, with slot, why didn't Walker then cut the proper locating Slot in the Delrin Tube End, mating correctly with the locating Pin in the VPI Wand Tower?

As to cost, I'm sure Lloyd would encourage you to feel free to make your own. He's the one who worked on the design, going through multiple iterations of materials and configurations, and it's his time invested in getting the materials, doing machining and making the product available. I don't understand poking at a guy over charging for his product. The cost of a second tower and tube from VPI so you can swap wands to avoid cross contamination is $50, the cost to replace the arm tube every few years is $25 per tube. (Sure, I know you can remove and replace the felt with some other after market solutions for the felt.) Lloyd gives us, imo, a superior solution that has far greater vacuum suction at the surface of the LP, doesn't wear out, doesn't have to be replaced, and pretty well eliminates cross-contamination thus eliminating the need to have two wands. I think that's a pretty reasonable exchange for my cash.
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I dropped a hint on another thread about the Walker Vortex after I heard a prototype a few weeks ago at the home of friend who lives near Lloyd. Glad to know that design is finalized and it's now available. I will get one asap, as I was greatly impressed.

The magnitude of sonic improvement compared to cleaning w/the standard VPI arm tube is REMARKABLE! The speed benefit, and no more replacement pads is also a great benefit.
Way to go, Walker Audio! Cheers,
Spencer

I don't own a VPI, but if I did I'd buy this tube in a heartbeat. Rushton's description makes perfect sense, this wand should yield some of the benefits of the string machines like my Loricraft at a tiny fraction of the cost. (The VPI is still noisier than &^%$, but it's also faster to use, so there's the tradeoff.)

To my mind the chance of anything but liquid being trapped between wand and record should be virtually nonexistent. Records should be thoroughly dry brushed and all loose contaminants removed before they go on the RCM, so what's left to get trapped?

My only concern would be that a smaller slot makes the motor work harder, so overheating might be occur sooner. OTOH if fewer revolutions are required...

Never saw this one coming but it looks interesting. Do you guys already using this utilize these o-rings then? As already mentioned, I'm trying to imagine scrubbing a suspended, flexible disc effectively.