The Secret Society of Lathe Trolls

Hi, xave, Yes, the funnels in my project, and in your picture, are the same ones in the eBay link. It's just that you have to modify them somewhat. Snap9.jpg Snap10.jpg Both the top and the bottom of the eBay funnels need to be cut-down, not only to reduce the mass but to fit in the confines of the ...

Hi, xave, I looked back through my purchase history but couldn't find reference to the ones I bought. Here's a link to some that come directly from China that look to be the same thing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Small-Perfume-Mini-Funnel-Liquid-Oil-Transfer-Bottles-Container-Funnel-3PCS-Hot/263852620...

Hey, Mark, Thanks for those references, which I have added to my own stash! Ol' Ben Bauer was a very prolific inventor and theorist, best known for his development of Shure's original Unidyne microphone, the "Fat-Boy Elvis Mic" as it's commonly known. The concept of 'springback' is a mysterious one,...

Good points, Mark. Yes, the US 'leans' toward 15° (if you'll pardon the pun or allusion, or whatever), and the Europeans like 20°. Not sure why, but I figured 18° would be a decent compromise. Here's another article on the subject by Geoff Husband: http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/vta_e.html , whic...

Hi, Mark, and good food for thought in your comments; thanks for bringing this up. My own understanding of the VTA is quite sketchy and clouded, and based for the most part on the old Noel Keywood article, which I have attached here. I am certainly open to any thoughts on this subject and would real...

Fellow Trolls, A few days ago, 2bitcomputer suggested that some drawings of the head would be helpful. I didn't have any dimensioned drawings, but pulled-up the MS Publisher (shudder) sheet I'd been using as a free CAD program and added some dimensions. When I made the parts, I simply printed-out th...

In my experiments with stepper motors, I think there's enough range with most of them to accommodate a fine microgroove pitch and still do the end spiral-out without shifting any sort of mechanical gears. I'm happy with 1/4" or even 3/16" pitch in the spiral-out and a somewhat finer one between band...

Thanks for the kudos, sameal. I will be adding some mechanical drawings, as coerced by 2bit; may take a few days. Regarding the pitch controller, I am assuming that you are referring to a device that will give you variable pitch on a dynamic basis, as the music dynamics require, not just a stepper c...

Hi, 2bit, I'm embarrassed by your suggestion; here's why. In designing the head, I started with the audio 'exciters,' measuring them carefully with a caliper, etc. and creating their image in... are you ready for this?... Microsoft Publisher! I know, I know, it's not a CAD or even a drafting program...

VERY well done, MarkRob! I'm so glad to see that others have discovered SigmaStudio and are making very good use of it. I can't stress enough how simple the Analog Devices people have made this math-intensive DSP business, and encourage others to use it as no code-writing is required. Obviously you ...

Hey, guys, Over the past few months I’ve been crafting a simple, easily-built stereo cutterhead. The two heads that came from all this turned out well enough to share with the group. So I wrote the project up as kind of a standalone DIY article, which is attached here as a PDF. There should be enoug...

Hey, Bryan, what sort of magnet structure will be used with that feedback coil? Has anyone tried a capacitance feedback pickup? Seems it would be pretty simple, low-mass, frequency-flat and immune from magnetic coupling with the drive coils. Just a thought.

I believe I posted previously that I burned-up my mom's cannister-type vacuum cleaner, some 60+ years ago with my recording activities. One bad thing about most household vacuums, DustBusters, etc., is that they are not made for continuous use, and if you restrict the airflow volume they overheat. T...

One of my Presto 1D cutters came with the company's advance ball mechanism, the little jewel ball could be mounted on either side of the stylus for inside-out or outside-in cutting. I tried using it but found the lathe worked as well without it. The right counterbalance and a spring to set depth of ...

"will be able to manufacture ones with excellent quality near future."??? ...only about 50 years too late! I'm surprised that, given the shrunken marketplace for disc mastering styli, they'd consider getting back to this. Perhaps there's sufficient 'botique' call, and with the demise of US-based man...

No schematic for the solenoid supply, but depending on the resistance of the coil, you surely could run it from two of those switchmode wall-warts or inline supplies, available in nearly any voltage for ten bucks or less. In that case you'd energize the solenoid from, say, a 24-volt supply, then whe...

Those plunger-type solenoids need a lot of current to get them to pull-in with force. Some come equipped with a microswitch, so that once they pull in the current can be cut-back to a lower value just to hold the load. That type of solenoid has two windings, one high-current one plus the 'holding' o...

Hey, sameal, good progress! With respect to the lift solenoid, I've used those a lot in tape transports and know that they really like to provide snap action, although you should be able to servo one, or at least contour the current into it for more gentle operation. My old Nikon point-and-shoot cam...

Thanks AussieO for that reference to pith wood. Decades ago, Micropoint sent a hunk along with every stylus they sold. Good to know where it can be obtained. Really does work magic. The only problem I ever had with too much heat was changing the consistency of the damping material in the cutterhead....

Hi, Jason, Yeah, I'm in Brea, just a hop-skip-jump away. If you're cutting at 78 into a bona fide lacquer recording blank, and the stylus is fairly new, you should have virtually no noise. Back when I was a kid doing much the same thing with a General Industries recording deck, I'd get noiseless 78 ...