This M2 ruby ball styli #A-5004-2016** has a silicon nitride ball material and a tungsten carbide stem.

Silicon nitride possesses many similar properties to ruby. It is a very hard and wear-resistant ceramic which can be machined into very high precision spheres. It can also be polished to an extremely smooth surface finish. Silicon nitride does not have the attraction to aluminum and so does not exhibit the adhesive wear seen with ruby in similar applications. However, silicon nitride does show significant abrasive wear characteristics when scanning on steel surfaces and so its applications are best confined to aluminum.Tungsten carbide stems are best used for maximizing stiffness with either small stem diameters required for ball diameters of 1 mm and below, or lengths up to 50 mm. Beyond this, weight can become a problem and stiffness is lost due to deflection at the stem to body joint.

** = special