Lost stylus seeking similar experience

A few additional thoughts based on the further comments.  First and foremost, I want to thank everyone for the attention you have all paid to my problem.  I deeply appreciate all of your kind thoughts and help.  There is always the possibility that my particular cartridge did not have the best bond between stylus and cantilever.  Who knows?  I am persuaded that the fault is mostly on me.  Finally, a further comment on Last products and their compatibility with other products.  I have used LAST products for decades with no trouble.  In particular Stylast on the stylus does add to stylus life.  I do check all of my cartridges for stylus wear semi-annually using a Wild-Herrbrugg micorscope and in years gone by I did a controlled experiment where I interchangeably used two stylii, one treated and one left untreated with Stylast.  The treated one lasted for over twice as long, meaning the useable life was greater than 2 untreated ones (I gave up the experiment after the second stylus wore out with the treated one still in useable condition).  The cartridge was a Shure V15 III.  FWIW, I have never tried LAST record cleaner, perhaps it would provide even better results.

@lewm 

"Plus, epoxy adhesives were strong enough to bond ceramic tiles to the space shuttle nose cone during re-entry."

The whole fuselage was covered with ceramic tiles and if you recall they had a persistent problem them falling off during launch. We even lost one during re-entry because the tiles were in a critical area on the underside exposed to the intense heat from it. I was sitting in a local Meineke having one of the rims on my car straitened as the Columbia streaked across the sky and broke up in seconds on the waiting room TV.

Hey, I do know they occasionally lost a tile, but there were thousands (at least) on the fuselage.  (Sounds like you may know the exact number; I am too tired to Google it.). You're not disputing that epoxy based adhesives are typically very reliable even under stress, are you?  As you know, the Columbia disaster had nothing to do with epoxy or ceramic tiles.

OK. I googled. 30,000 tiles.

@lewm 

The disaster was a result of a piece of foam from the external fuel tank that came loose during launch and damaged, wait for it, tiles on the leading edge of the left wing. From what I recall those vehicles shed tiles every time they took off primarily due to the extreme vibration caused by those gigantic rocket engines.

Stylus traveling nearly a mile in a groove on each side of a record? What do you think.

I recall reading that the tile that came loose only weighed 8 lbs, but combined with their traveling speed was ’enough’ for the disaster.

I have also read that the forces on an LP groove/Stylus during play are ENORMOUS. Another reason I favor light tracking.