The Secret Society of Lathe Trolls

My experience has been quite different. I would say "yes" if you know what to expect and have it rebuilt by someone who knows what they're doing. I had Gib as West Tech rebuild the Astatic X-26 cutting head that was in the Recordio console I inherited from my Grandparents. It was completely dead. I ...

I think what you need is not a 45 idler wheel, but a 45 shaft, or capstan for the motor. The mechanics/science of it has been discussed extensively elsewhere on this forum, but the size of the idler does not determine the speed. To change the unit for 45 operation you need to either locate of have m...

Last year I purchased a lathe that came with various blanks, including 5 - 6 3/4 inch square Monogal Polycarbonate blanks, still with their protective covering, and center holes. I'm assuming the previous lathe owner cut them from a larger sheet. They are cut nicely. I only cut lacquers and will nev...

Timinbovey, you are very wrong in one respect. When you attend a live show, it is in STEREO! The perspective will be different for every person in the audience, but it is definitely stereo. We have two ears, and they give us the ability to hear a stereo soundfield. We can also localise sounds in th...

To say lathe cut is crap because it's not stereo, or doesn't have the frequency response, etc is like saying black and white photography is crap because it doesn't do it's best to reproduce the original scene. Again, two different things here; -reproduction -another version of the original When you...

Random thought followup: As the first responder to the OP, I'm taking this opportunity to follow up. Honestly, when I read the OP I thought it read like a commercial for the Vinyl Recorder. "Lathe cuts are crap unless they're made on a VR" LOL. People often talk about the accuracy of reproduction --...

A lathe cut record can certainly = crap. However, it can also mean the highest quality possible. Remember EVERY modern pressed record you can buy in the store today, and every pressed record made since the beginning of pressed records was pressed with stampers that started as a lathe cut lacquer mas...

The more I diddle around with these the more questions I discover. Didn't consider myself a "newbie" as I was cutting records on a Recordio 40 years ago, but now that I strive for better quality, I have these questions. I've moved past the Recordio to Presto and Rekokut. 1. I have a couple brand new...

LOL.. Don't think that's going to do it. Ya gotta have the pointy side down and the flat toward the set-screw.

There aren't really any options!

Tim in Bovey

Didn't quite know how to phrase the subject, LOL. I'm getting my Presto J-5 going. I do not get fine "hair like" thread when cutting. I get curly crumbly balls of shavings. That tend to hang around the stylus. I can remember cutting on my Recordio 40 years ago getting nice, long thread-like shavings...

I'm guessing many of you have seen "The 78 Project" where they traveled around the country recording "in the field" with a portable Presto. If you haven't watched the movie it's available in it's entirety on Youtube. Anyway, I noticed in many scenes just before recording they warmed the blank disc u...

Ah, so the goal, really, is a cutting stylus that is 90 degrees to the disc, straight up and down, eh? Seems like a basic thing to know. I did quite a bit of record cutting back in the mid-late 70's and also about 25 years ago, and all on a console Recordio that I inherited and restored back then. T...

Getting ready to do some test cuts with the Presto J-5. Anyone know what length stylus was the correct size for this machine? "Long" or "short" would be enough. Neither the operators manual nor the service manual mention stylus size. I just hate to waste blank space and stylus life more than necessa...

It just seems to me that someone should be reproducing platter mats for cutting machines. My Presto J-5 is missing it's mat, but I have a ROK with a perfect, original, black mat that also seems to be a nearly perfect fit on the Presto. Actually it's maybe a 1/4 diameter smaller than an original Pres...

Just an update -- my list of measured cutting styli has been updatged to include an Audio Point #14 long shank.

http://www.kebsrecords.com/stylusspecs.pdf

Tim in Bovey

Had this stashed away. Might have information someone needs, especially if you're working on a vintage home style machine like a Recordio, Howard, Philco, Sears, etc that has the Astatic heads in them.

http://www.kebsrecords.com/1941astatic.pdf

Tim in Bovey

OK, I have completed the first listing of measurements of cutting styli in my collection. Except for the last two under "random styli" these are all brand new. The Transco are recently purchased, the others are "NOS" - new old stock - new, never used but old. Obviously I've never had a need for the ...

I've started digging up some of the stuff I accumulated when I was first into cutting records, about 1977 to about 1992 or so. Somewhat surprised by the oddball stuff I hung on to. One item that may be valuable (for all I know this has been posted before, it will take me a LONG time to read everythi...

Perhaps you could convince some fella in the States to send 'em to you. the shipping might be killer however. I just figured it out. A box of 25 10" dubs from Apollo weighs about 13 pounds ready to ship. At the current price a box is about $273 (plus the guy here would have to pay freight to get the...

Now that I have my digital calipers working again (6 year old battery was quite dead) I've decided that since I do have a stock of quite a few different NOS cutting stylii, still in the original packages, when I get a chance I'm just going to measure them all for length and shank diameter and post i...