The Secret Society of Lathe Trolls

Hi, That makes sense. That would bring the load impedance up into a better range. The cap bridging the resistor will increase the high frequencies as it will bypass the resistor. The down side is that you are wasting quite a bit of power through the resistor (note the 5W rating). An external high w...

12bitcuts wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 04, 2022 3:16 am

Pin 2 (speaker output) of STK011 connects to a 100uF capacitor --> then to a 5K ohm resistor & 2.2 uF capacitor (in parallel) --> then to pin 1 of the wiring harness which connects to the cutter head (red cutter head wire +).

Correction it is a 5 Ohm resistor (not 5K).

Hello Hi Fela! Wow that is a really cool mod,props! Glad to see other Atom/Vanrock owners upgrading and experimenting. Do you mind sharing what improvements you observed after swapping out the magnet? What sort of improvements will this result in? Does it affect the frequency response or allow you ...

Hi, That DC Resistance is pretty low. I assume you measured the head out of circuit. Is this correct? I see that a STK011 amplifier is used in some of these machines. Can you determine if the head has any external series resistance added between the amp and the head? Mark Yes, the cutter head is co...

By the way here are results from the Dayton DATS system Impedance Sweep. I am new to this tool so not totally sure I measured things correctly. I just placed the leads on the leads to each of the 2 coils. https://i.postimg.cc/Z50pM62g/DATS-imedance-Sweep-1.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/nzfmrgrb/DATS-indu...

Any suggestions where to find or how to make a small oil dashpot? I have embarked on the lathe building & retrofitting journey. I will be both building my own lathe from scratch and retrofitting an existing disc cutting system with some custom mods. One area I am looking at is a dashpot or damper of...

This post will be one of several spotlighting the Atom / Vanrock internal electronics and mechanics. The Achilles heel of Atom/Vanrock a/e-101 class machines seems to be the cutter head and its limited frequency range of 60hz - 8k. There is also a significant boost along the midrange starting around...

Hi, On the Atom, I have to use aggressive EQ/filter on some of the midrange bands going in to allow for a better cut (using diamond w/ heater). I also tend to cut pretty hot, but overall getting a good sounding cut with an Atom cutterhead on an actual Atom disc cutter is a challenge in itself. FYI: ...

What sort of amp would you need to drive Ortofon head?
Any technical details available? Freq response, wiring diagram, etc.
I am looking for a head for a custom lathe and curious if the Ortofon might work.

Saw this compact power amp on Amazon. Wondering if anything about this amp would make it unsuitable as a cutting amp for small lathe setups. Has lots of good reviews and can be upgraded (OpAmp + PS). AIYIMA A07 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CJZGT6H/ Currently on sale w/ $10 coupon. With inclu...

Yeah I tried reaching out in an attempt to find a modern equivalent, so far no luck but will keep digging. Anotehr thought was if an Arduino controlled (stepper) motor can work? It actually doesn't directly spin the platter at the spindle, it turns another smaller wheel that grips the rubber belt wh...

Bienvenido! I don't have answer to your counterweight dilemma but I am planning to build a custom lathe next year to compliment my mono 7" cutter setup. Interested in what options and solutions are out there. BTW: I order supplies from MyShank and the site appears to be open. Look forward to seeing ...

I am looking for information on the platter motor used by the Vanrock (aka Atom) 101 cutting lathe. I own 2 units and one of them is significantly louder than the other and although it spins ok, it appears to be running a little rough even modulating the groove as it cuts with the vibration / noise ...

Thanks for the tip, I will keep that in mind and give a try. Do you get more consistent weight settings with the guitar string since it's not flexing like the spring? At some point I would like to modify the whole assembly to get rid of the spring & possibly the mechanism it is attached to. Some sor...

I have been having weight/spring issues, not able to get the weight below 20gr on my unit and I want to cut with diamond which calls for 14gr max. Maybe these springs stretch over time causing poor weight adjustment results? I dismantled the top housing of my Atom/Vanrock to expose the spring and ot...

Doing some maintenance on my ATOM A-101 in hopes of reducing noise generated by the lathe itself during cutting. Looking for suggestions on best type of lubricant to use at each of the points numbered in the photo. IMG_0625 (2).jpg Candidates to lubricate include the platter spindle (1) and the roll...

For the Atom/Vanrock - Wondering how you go about disconnecting the internal electronics and replacing with a different power amp to cutter head as described?
Has anyone actually done this?

Really interested in upgrading my unit.
If you find the schematics I would be interested in them as well.

Hello trolls, I own an ATOM A-101 (Same as VANROCK) and am looking for some suggestions. I have my EQ settings pretty close to acceptable as far as fidelity but what I cannot seem to eliminate is a grinding background noise in every recording. I have attached a short .wav file so you can hear it (lo...

Has anybody tried using a Cricut "Maker" (www.cricut.com) to create some DIY record sleeves/packaging? Looks like it is potentially up to the task for small projects. cricut software is BASIC .. silhouettes software is brilliant .. i recommend cameo 3 or 4 or even a curio ... curio is good becuase ...

Has anybody tried using a Cricut "Maker" (www.cricut.com) to create some DIY record sleeves/packaging?
Looks like it is potentially up to the task for small projects.