The Secret Society of Lathe Trolls

Gerber technically has as much resolution as you are prepared to give it digits, but it is not the ideal format for this by any means (Probably no worse then G code, but <shudder>). I know the literature implies stereo is one channel cut into each wall, but is that actually quite true? Seems to me t...

1oz/sq foot copper is ~35um thickness (about 1.4 mil), but we probably don't want to etch all the way thru, we are not trying to create a circuit here! Nominal microgrove is 1.1 mil so 1 oz copper would just about work in mono, 2oz would definitely work (from that perspective at least)! The V grove ...

Feel free to tell me this is a very silly idea, but could there be traction in photolithograthy for making records. My notion is to use a photoresist coated metal plate (off the shelf electronic PCB material?), with a laser as the head (405nm near UV might work and it is cheap, even better a blue ra...

Indeed, I keep expecting angular contact ball or crossed roller bearings and slideways (All with significant preload), being as that is what I would be thinking for a precision lathe spindle in the machining sense, but nope, generally nothing so hardcore! Hell I was wondering about magnetically levi...

It is going to have to be a leaver or something of that sort to get anything like that much excursion (There are some tricks sonar used to do that may be applicable, but it is annoyingly small bits of metal to fabricate such things). Gas lighter elements probably won't work, I was thinking more in t...

Voice coils are the way to go if you are looking to build a product rather then play in the lab, that is certainly true as it is tried and tested technology so the problem is one of engineering a design that works with modern bits and hits a target BOM cost. However my interest is in the exploration...

On the surface hardness thing, I don't have numbers but the thought occurs that if someone has access to the gear required (Not trivial!), Parylene coating has some options that put down a layer north of 80 Rockwell hardness, and the process should be compatible with records.... Problem is the gear ...

Well aware of the effect of phase shifts on loop stability, this is control theory 101 (And probably why most feedback heads had to limit the bandwidth of the feedback loop to avoid oscillation).... It is the location of those gauges that concerns me far more then the ability of the things to work, ...

Oh I am quite prepared to believe it won't work, but any chance of a few words about why not? You got to figure on getting the null result about 95 times out of a 100 when experimenting with stuff, but if you have been down this rabbit hole and found a dead end, please explain, if only to save me go...

Which would be why I was suggesting NOT using classical magnetic motors at all might be a worthwhile avenue to explore! I know the classic way to do it, and I know 'crystal' cutting heads were in general crap, but it seems to me that 30 odd years of technology improvements might have made at least a...

Hi all, Has anyone here played with PZT stacks as a driver for a cutter? I am thinking in terms of something like a pair of ThorLabs PZS001 in push/pull (to cancel the (significant) hysteresis and make applying preload easier), with the control loop closed by the strain gauges. The upside is that th...

Hi all, I am a newbie to record cutting, (but not to audio), and have always been fascinated by the rather mechanical nature of the whole thing to the point that I am contemplating building a lathe to have a play with (The electronics is trivial IMHO). I have access to a lathe (in the metal cutting ...