Is this truly innovative or just stupid?

[diamone]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdzCv_9eaoM&list=PLsVyhMURQq6dq41yLkeujgJ5V6pP7L9S1

Plays exactly one time before being destroyed.

[opcode66]

Well, neither in this example. It is a novelty I think. However, I have always wondered if it were possible to work out a proper laser cutting system. What if he did the same in polycarbonate? It might sound better. What if he increased the resolution? It might be playable and listenable.

[jesusfwrl]

The biggest question however: Can you eat it afterwards?

Considering that the average playback stylus has been dragged for hundreds and thousands of miles along dirty and dusty grooves with bits of PVC, polycarbonate, lacquer and any other chemicals used in the production process of such records, even if the the production of he tortilla would be entirely food-grade, I bet the playback process would render it inedible. Unless someone invents food-grade turntable platters and reproduction styli, that would only be used with edible records.

My wife keeps asking me to make her a chocolate record... She wants to listen to it and then eat it. While I could probably make a chocolate record that you can listen too, I would think that after being played back on any of my turntable it would no longer be safe to eat. Not to mention how unsuitable my lathe would be for food production.

[diamone]

Don't think you could cut on chocolate very well anymore than polystyrene edibility and playability notwithstanding.

But everybody by NOW I hope has seen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-9tPCwIdWE

Plenty of stampers or lacquer molds around though.

[upgrade]

Hello, someone pointed this thread out to me. I am the creator of the video.

This was an extension of my project trying to use a laser cutter to make records out of acrylic for gramophones as opposed to lathe-cutting or sending out for a vinyl 78 pressing.

The tortilla was a novelty, but made in response to another video where one literally impales a tortilla on a turntable to "play" the Mexican Hat Dance. That video got a million views just for that.

I wanted to up the ante a bit, as stated in the video's description. Some songs lasted longer than others under repeated playing, but the Mexican Hat Dance was still discernible after at least 30. There was greater concern of it drying out and becoming brittle than wearing out the grooves.

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These were my original tests in acrylic, but nowhere near as popular as the tortilla.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Playable-Laser-Cut-Gramophone-Record-from-B/

The high pitched squealing comes from the laser cutter pulsing many, many times instead of firing continuously. This created microscopic bumps along the bottom of the groove. I'm not sure if I can do much about it because it seems to be a safety measure for the machine.

The kerf or width of the laser is 0.006"

As I understand, 78s are standard groove, 2.2-3.6 mil or 0.0022"- 0.0036".

While microgroove vinyl is 0.7 to 1.0 mil (0.0007" - 0.001").

I modified the instructable from the Amanda Ghassaei instructable (who was also the one responsible for the 3D printed record).

http://www.lathetrolls.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5003&p=30212&hilit=amanda#p30212

I had theorized that 78rpm would give a better sound because of the increased linear and angular velocity as well as using a "wider" 78 needle that could better fit the laser-etched groove.

This is the test using a 78 needle on a conventional turntable. It is also capable of repeated playing on a steel needle gramophone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uqbZkEybqg

---------------------------

I initially used a LASERCAMM model which was feedscrew driven. It was capable of a precision of (+/-) 0.005"/ft and is meant for engineering work. However, making a three minute record took over ten hours.

I then used a type of "laser printer" which could accept PDF files and was timing belt-driven. The Epilog had a max resolution of 1200 DPI under the vector setting. In comparison, I could make a double sided record in three hours.

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I suppose you can laser-etch a record out of a flat piece of chocolate.

There are plenty of instructables showing that laser-etching is possible on chocolate.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Pure-Decadence---Laser-Etched-Chocolate-Bar/

However, I've yet to find one in 10" squares. The lengthy cutting time may also be a problem.

[Human2]

Do you know of a way to cut in vertical and lateral with laser? And how do you transfer audio to a printable file?

Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk

[diamone]

I know people have tried ``printing'' vertically, but there was 2 problems:
1. the vertical component could not exist in the same plane as the lateral component precluding stereo and
2. the vertical component required several passes to build it up.

I'm sure the laser-printer and 3D printer guys could answer that a lot better than me.

[Gridlock]

Laser cut lexan and it makes smoke that'll kill ya. Just a friendly heads up

[upgrade]

To laser etch in both vertical and lateral, it very much depends on the laser's software.

Most of the time, the laser cutting head is locked in the x-y axis.

The Epilog allows for the a depth map to change the laser power in function of the grayscale of an input image. However, this changes the laser's function from vector to raster, resulting in a loss of resolution.

In addition, changing the laser's power to increase the depth makes the groove wider and vice versa.

It might be possible to simulate stereo and cut a lateral set of grooves and then make a second pass with vertical to make an approximate V-shaped groove. But everything has to be kept motionless.

____________________

There's only been one instructable of someone 3D printing a record.

http://www.instructables.com/id/3D-Printed-Record/

The vertical axis was the most precise in testing so the author made vertically cut records.

It was cut for 33 rpm which gave mixed results. Adapting it for 80 rpm Edison Diamond Discs may make the sound quality better. I'm not sure if the 3D printed plastic would be durable enough to be put into an antique Diamond Disc machine.

As far as I know, the intersection of people owning a 3D printer and people owning an Edison Diamond Disc machine is small to nonexistent.