The Secret Society of Lathe Trolls

Hey everyone, I had a question and I'd like your feedback: I do embossing on polycarbonate, using a tungsten stylus, mainly for electronic music. I spend an average of 10 minutes per side, which, according to my calculations, is 66 Lpi. I've gone up to a maximum of 15 minutes, or 100 Lpi. I was wond...

Happy wednesday !

Hi everyone. I'm a total newbie to the forum & actually to the entire record lathe scene. I would love to be able to cut my own records & extremely keen to try my luck building a diy lathe. This has been an incredibly informative & helpful thread. Thank you Estrada & everyone else for sharing all y...

Very interesting !
Did you made a video of the process ?

Hey trolls, So instead of randomly tweaking angle / pressure / springs / vibes / magic and hoping for the best, I started writing a small Python tool to actually measure what my embossing head is doing. Current setup: DIY embossing head, cutting polycarbonate (CDs). Yes, I know. Don’t judge me. Wha...

Well, I just tried to redo the geometry and polish it to test it, and unsurprisingly the result is a disaster from the very first stress; the sapphire disappeared like Houdini... I'm not giving up (except for today...), we'll think about it and start again!

Sorry for the picture, i can't do better...

0.8mm saphire on 1,7mm rod

Frankeinsten shop

In any case, let's do it, try it, and share; that's the meaning of a community...

But who knows, I'll give it a try anyway. This 0.8mm diameter sapphire was really cheap (I'll put a link to the site later). Now, maybe a 1.5 or 3mm sapphire would be much easier to handle and would leave enough room for centering, sharpening, and polishing.

Now, regarding the stylus assembly, as I expected, it's very complicated. I managed to glue the sapphire the right way around by some miracle. My sapphire is too small, and I have no room for adjustment or sharpening. Furthermore, to the naked eye, the angle of the stone seems close to 120 degrees, ...

This place is a goldmine of people doing incredible things and inventing things, each in their own way.

P.S.: I said open source, so the aluminum-iron alloy rod is a bicycle wheel spoke; it's very light and very hard. I don't know if it will work, but I'm sharing my experiences.

Wish me luck! Tomorrow I'll attempt the assembly: an aluminum-iron alloy rod, a sapphire crystal, then a silent cut test. If it works for tracking, I'll redo the mapping.

Nice

You're on the way

A brief overview of what I've been doing: 1. I manufactured a 0.7 x 0.7 mm die using wire EDM. 20250408_155113.jpg 20250408_155248.jpg 2. I pre-drilled the diamond tip's recess (1:20 taper). 20250408_155715.jpg 3. I created a square hole using the die. 20250408_155748 -8.mp4 (80:20) :lol: I'm glued...

So, plan C is done, it's as good as done, 80/20 ( 🫠Thomas), and we're moving forward. Health and happiness to you all, friends