Looking to buy a cutter to replace home-made unit

This is where record cutters raise questions about cutting, and trade wisdom and experiment results. We love Scully, Neumann, Presto, & Rek-O-Kut lathes and Wilcox-Gay Recordios (among others). We are excited by the various modern pro and semi-pro systems, too, in production and development. We use strange, extinct disc-based dictation machines. And other stuff, too.

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thevinyllover
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Looking to buy a cutter to replace home-made unit

Post: # 18580Unread post thevinyllover
Sat Mar 10, 2012 8:02 pm

I am looking to buy a cutting as my homemade one is not up to much really.
I wanted buy a full presto 6n but couldnt find one anywhere for sale so i built a homemade lathe using a stanton t120 turntable 4.5 kg torque d.drive and a table lamp . I seen a fella on youtube that made one. it took my eye and copied him. The head shell is not up to much and would like to try an old school one from the old style cutter as long as it was in stereo sound ...The Lexan 1.5 mm plastic proven to be the best results for me I tried a few types of plastic lol . My needle is just a sharped 78s needle and 2 small speakers fitted to it with little plastic tubes and little copper cones .. still struggling with line space of the groves at times and the sound I feel its not bad but not great either at times when I get it right by luck ... my technical background is not great but I am always willing to learn.. this a great hobby to take up I love vinyl music and a keen turntablist ... I have good musical know how and understand the mastering of the sound wma with right eq of the music so dosnt sound bad .... I will post pictures at a later date as its still in the experimental stage .... If anyone is selling a good working cutter homemade or an old school stereo cutter please get in contact with me even if its for some pointers or a wee blue print for a better head shell it be interesting to hear another person take on it and point of veiw on it.
THEVINYLLOVER

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Angus McCarthy
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Post: # 18587Unread post Angus McCarthy
Sun Mar 11, 2012 9:34 am

For starters, welcome!

It sometimes seems there are as many attempts at scratch-built lathes as there are posters on this forum! You're right though, the hardest part is keeping the cutter transport solid and steady. That's what made me give up on my homebrew and settle down with a Recordio to get some base-level experience. (Thread Here)

There are plenty of examples of home-built cutter heads in the Experimenter's subforum, and if you're seriously in the market for a higher-grade lathe make a post in the Classified subforum. Good luck.

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thevinyllover
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hi buddy and thanks for welcome

Post: # 18588Unread post thevinyllover
Sun Mar 11, 2012 11:22 am

had a wee look at your recordio cutter looks great , well done on buying that 1 . i like the way you can get in to ever part and the moter looks very accessible too smashing peace of kit ... do you cut on to lexan or is lacquer disks with it ...i never knew there was a sub level to this site and hope i have not broken any rules... i am sorry if i have i should come with an L plate .... lol it has been a great project so far and my lathe is questionable at times it wouldnt win any awards or anythin . i wouldnt go down the road of buying any of these new german ones far to much money for a hobby .... but the retro ones just look so great really and carry a bit of history with them. i read somewhere that elvis famously recorded on a prersto 6n... if its good for the king then am sure it be good for my type of music aswell ...
THEVINYLLOVER

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Angus McCarthy
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Location: Bloomsburg, PA, USA

Post: # 18589Unread post Angus McCarthy
Sun Mar 11, 2012 11:40 am

Oh don't worry. You're certainly not the first to get lost in the forum.

I've actually been following the lead of other lo-fi cutters and using disposable plastic party plates as blank discs. They're an excellent substitute for the old lacquer-on-paper home recording discs - and they come in a rainbow of colors! There's a video of one being cut on a portable-type Presto here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcaBlkJQ0bw. It's very similar to the process used on a lower-grade Recordio.

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thevinyllover
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Post: # 18590Unread post thevinyllover
Sun Mar 11, 2012 1:00 pm

very cool ..... eco friendly as well ..... lol i ment ask is it only 45s that the presto can do or can it do a 12 inch lp at 33.3 as well i wasnt sure how far back the cutting needle could go or if the speed could be set to do 33.3 ...
THEVINYLLOVER

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thevinyllover
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Post: # 18592Unread post thevinyllover
Sun Mar 11, 2012 2:02 pm

the reason i ask dos it only do 45s i have never seen any1 on cut anythin bigger on it .....
THEVINYLLOVER

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Steve E.
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Post: # 18600Unread post Steve E.
Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:24 pm

Presto 6Ns can do 33, 78, and, if you have a special slide-on adapter, 45. They have also cut up to 16-inch plates....though good luck finding one!

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thevinyllover
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Post: # 18601Unread post thevinyllover
Mon Mar 12, 2012 1:02 pm

thats great steve .... i will just keep looking and hopefully i can find a nice cutter from somewhere ... there very hard to come by ... before my local record store shut down ... they had 1 in a suitcase in a retro display in the middle of the floor ... it had been there for ever in 23rd precinct it was famous store store in glasgow.. now its gone ... ebay has been my local record store ... i wish now i had asked about the presto back then but i have feeling it was just a shell for a shop an ornament .... prob would have needed a lot of recon work ..
THEVINYLLOVER

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Steve E.
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Post: # 18602Unread post Steve E.
Mon Mar 12, 2012 8:02 pm

they show up. Be patient, and check the classified section here. One will come along sooner or later.

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thevinyllover
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Post: # 18603Unread post thevinyllover
Mon Mar 12, 2012 9:14 pm

a bit luck buddy hopefully
THEVINYLLOVER

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