Is there a best cartridge track force gauge?

4yanx, you concerned me as my Shure is too shinny to be aluminum. It is not magnetic, however.

Tbg, I am not CERTAIN that my Shure is aluminum, I suppose. Someone said that those that aren't steel are aluminum, maybe nickel-plated. All I know is that mine is not magnetic while one that a friend once owned was magentic. In any event, this is a serious flaw in some of those scales and one would be wise to ensure that any they were interested in buying (ie used) was not magnetic. Otherwise, they work great.

Tbg...Stainless steel is non magnetic.

Eldartford,

SOME stainless steels are non-magnetic.

Other stainless steels are slightly magnetic, probably to a degree that could readily affect the small forces involved in stylus downforce measurement and adjustment.

Whether a particular stainless steel object is magnetic or not, and to what degree, depends on both the alloy and the way it was worked or machined into the final product.

Dougdeacon...Perhaps you should say it the other way around.."SOME stainless steels" are magnetic. The commonly used ones are nonmagnetic. I never ran across one that was magnetic, although I can believe that metallurgists could cook up a formula if they tried.