Solo picnic plates....getting good cuts, saving your needles

[Steve E.]

OK, here's a biggie. Solo plates. This is part of what got me excited about the possibilities of cutting. The day after I learned one could cut these, I ran outside towards the "party store" and immediately bumped into a friend who used Solo plates for mask-making (costume designer), and she helped me shop. I went home with a wide assortment of 10" plates.

I also bought a big nasty looking 5/8" inch drill bit with a knifey looking end, for cutting my center holes. I found that I could tape the cut out plates to an antique acetate and cut them on my Recordio, and they sounded about like the early 70's cereal box records in quality.

I was so excited by the initial results, I started fantasizing that I'd do an art project where I'd record 1 of these songs on a plate every day, sort of like a diary entry.

But then I got disappointed. The results were inconsistent. I found that they were getting hissier and hissier very rapidly. I think I was dulling my cutting stylus, which was a sapphire Grampion thingy.

I found that I got best sounding cuts on the dull side of a purple solo plate. A cheaper line distributed by Solo had too many defects in the surface. The metallic gold-looking plates seems to have a different sort of "grain" and didn't cut as well at all. The worst were the transparent plates, which were very shiny and apparently a bit harder. I could tell when a cut was going badly because the cutter would screech.

My costume designer friend says that the dull side "catches" the needle and therefore encourages a cut, while the cutter probably skates on the shiny surfaces more.

So....I guess if I have one question, it's this: I see that some of you are using strange media to cut on. Doesn't this wear out your cutting needles immediately? They are like $70 a pop, so I'd think you need to find a way to minimize that problem. What do you do? How many "strange cuts" can you get out of a needle?

[sirkut]

I haven't had a noticeable problem yet but on the other hand I have a large collection of writing needles(sapphire, steel, etc) that I've gotten for a good deal. I have a lot of leg room to play with. Right now I'm interested in coating those plates with lacquer to see how that pans out, or some other solution that will be easy to cut yet remain durable.

[Steve E.]

What sort of lacquer?

[harper]

ive tried polycrylic coating and this works ok// not very smooth but i didnt try experimenting too much with this// maybe multiple coats or buffing it down??
its soft but i kept getting dust drying into it/// and my tests were ontop of old records so thats another whole mess. I also at the time wasnt using a heated stylus,,,, with a heater ive cut super deep into old records, these are noisey but i really love noisey cuts...

some old laquers ive gotten have had 'safety edges' witch is more of a rubber type edge and the time i was cutting into the edge it would actually sound better than the laquer i was cutting on (the laquer was all dryed up and scuffed)))

So this got me thinking: HANDLE DIP COATING PLASTIC/ ya knwo for tools // i havent goen down to the hard warestore to buy this yet cuz im still sitting on a huge pile of polycrylic plastic sheets. But i swear in my mind this maybe the best substance to coat surfaces with!!!!

[sirkut]

What sort of lacquer?

Can't recall what spray I picked up but any sort of lacquer would work. I did a spray test and it holds well to the plastic and is markable with a needle. Just need to find time from my busy schedule to sit down and mess with it. Right now I have a huge lot of safety records to play with. These beasts are just strange, not aluminum but some type of board with lacquer covering it.

[amok]

dumb question maybe...

Are you cutting the edges of the plate off and only using the flat center?

[Steve E.]

I delayed responding in the hopes that someone else would. It's sad to come to the page and see my name as the "most recent entry" for each thread. I hope that this site catches fire more (crosses fingers)!

Amok, there are no dumb questions here! Yes, indeed, one cuts the edges off the plate and uses only the flat center. But, I'll tell ya, if I could figure out a way to do otherwise, and still have the thing be playable on even one phonograph, I certainly would! That would be super cool. I figure if one of these plates had a small enough rim, that would be possible.

[ffwolfcone]

I find the best is acrylic. easy to scratch, cheap, ..you can get about 100 cuts before the needle seems dull. Even then it sounds passable.

[Guest]

I find the best is acrylic. easy to scratch, cheap, ..you can get about 100 cuts before the needle seems dull. Even then it sounds passable.

How does that work? Are there acrylic plates? or do you paint it on?

[tape]

I find the best is acrylic. easy to scratch, cheap, ..you can get about 100 cuts before the needle seems dull. Even then it sounds passable.

That seems strange - I want to cut on plastic myself.
I have a huge stock of old soundscriber blanks, which seems much softer than vinyl, and certainly softer than acrylic.
Nonetheless I am told that cutting these will wear out my saphire needle very quickly....

The one I tried cutting has a loud hiss..

Any tips?
I dont use a heated stylus....

[aa records]

When you cut on crappy materials just use an old needle, you're never gonna get a clean sound out of bad material anyway, new needle, heated or otherwise. Also, doesn't seem like anyone is trying to cut a plastic plate on a mastering machine so again, not gonna be the best quality. But if you're looking for quality, why cut on a plate?
BTW, they're injection molded polystyrene and Solo has discontinued the round transparent circular plates, they're only in oval shape now
Save your good needles for lacquers, etc. Save your old needles for plates!