The Secret Society of Lathe Trolls

Guys: Just finished an ongoing, spare-time disc embossing project, taking an old SoundScriber dictating machine and converting it to record on discarded CDs and DVDs. A simple project and lots of fun. I wrote it up and posted it; there's link to listen to it too. https://www.dropbox.com/s/ywfsz55wfb...

Looks interesting, but I note that the literature states, "...stops between engravings to limit noise." That suggests to me a high speed, 'universal' motor like a home vacuum cleaner, not meant for continuous use... and it would have to be soundproofed. What do these things cost? Any seller who invi...

Might work, but probably about as well as a DirtDevil or similar hand-held utility vacuum. The "high speed motor" would probably not last a long time, and you'd have to insulate against noise. Again, vacuums like this (and the DirtDevil) are most efficient pulling a good amount of air through them, ...

Wow, punkrock, thanks for that info. I was not familiar with those vacuums, but went to their Website and was immediately impressed. That type of industrial vacuum is exactly what you want to use, if you are lucky enough to get one. A friend who is into woodworking has a central vacuum system hooked...

Hey, Jake, Congratulations on what sounds like a successful design. Is this head of a size that could fit a standard-mount lathe, like a Presto 6N or Rek-O-Kut, or are you thinking of a more elaborate overhead mechanism like a Neumann or Scully? If you could provide a few pictures of your head and w...

Now, that controller looks pretty neat. I'll look into it for sure. As for a frequency source, I'm not an Arduino kind of guy and would probably opt for some sort of stable R/C oscillator, rather than complicating the issue with all that digital mumbo-jumbo. When driving a leadscrew with a stepper, ...

Estrada, With respect to a stepper driver, I started out with a very inexpensive one off eBay, along with a beefy 24V DC supply that was also very inexpensive. Since then I have looked into a motor driver that better approximates a sine wave drive to the stepper motor, which inherently gives smoothe...

I've found the greatest inspection utility using an inexpensive jeweler's loupe. Anything more powerful has less depth of field. Sure, you can see the engraved high frequencies with greater magnification, but EQ is done with recording and playback, not visual inspection. More important is groove-to-...

Piaptk: thanks for the link to that tubing; looks very useful. I've got an old Astatic cutterhead that could use something like that.

Hi, Estrada, No problem 33/45 since they're so close. I had no use for 78, but you might well be able to get all three speeds if you planned things right. I used a NEMA 17 motor, like the one in the lower picture. But all my cutting is microgroove, 12" discs or under, which requires less turntable h...

Hey, Estrada, Does your rubber tire sit on the rim of the flywheel, or does it fit a rectangular groove machined in the OD of the flywheel? The Presto tires were field-replaceable, so they simply stretched a bit and then snapped-home in a groove. But whether yours is A or B, I'm assuming that you ha...

So... the turntable drive is like the Presto K-series and the 16" 'Y' model, both with a molded tire, except that Presto put the tire on the outside of the turntable, and your tire is on a separate flywheel underneath. That's interesting. I think you would benefit, noise-wise, by doing a belt drive ...

Hi, Estrada, That lathe is a treasure! Certainly unique, and I sure hope it can be brought back up to smooth operation. I'm particularly intrigued by what looks to be stroboscope markings around the periphery of the turntable. Certainly one row of dots is supposed to appear standing still at 33-1/3,...

Hi, Estrada. Thanks for the comments and, yes, it's a quite easy head to build. The DSP business should not be a worry, as the ready-made boards are available from a number of sources, and I'm happy to provide the DSP project files that proved successful for me. You'll find that, once you get your f...

Hi, dx, and thanks for the props. I used Forstner bits:
...to create the stepped hole, got this set off Amazon:

At TonyD's request, here's a second sketch of the second cutterhead, which better shows how the stylus is suspended in a rubber damper. Note that the damper-holder is now screwed to the backplate, a more solid coupling than the setscrew shown in the photos.

Hi, S; you bet, I will PM you.

Hey, Tony, I'm working on a sketch that may make the whole thing more understandable. Time is at a premium, but give me a day or two more.

Hi, Tony, thanks for joining the discussion; I'm delighted to see that others are interested and are improving on this project. xave looks to have done a superb job of a 3D-printed housing; maybe he'll share. As for transducers, Version 1 of the head used these exciters from adafruit.com: Adafruit.j...

Beautiful work, xave; I can't wait to see it all come together! And your English is just fine. Please keep us updated on your progress; you might want to start your own thread so it will be easier to follow the project.