Presto 8dg refurb. (Lathe porn)

[Stevie342000]

Wow! That Bad Boy doesn't look 'stock'; someone has modified that one bigtime, or somebody at the factory did a 'special' for who-knows what. I guess you could cut outside-in and then reverse direction and cut inside-out... kinda like streetcar tracks that cross over one another. Twice the playing time, but with some pops and ticks. Seriously, I wonder what that utility was for. The original Presto could cut either direction, I think there was a manual clutch to change screw rotation. Really beautiful machinery.

Just a couple of things to consider the bearings may be full of gunk, they may need to be removed too clean and soak them. Grease, oil, dirt, goes hard over time and even if you think they are ok there is still a lot of years of potential dirt in there. If you can get the motors serviced be prepared for the bill, it may not be light. As far as I know the Ashland and the Bodine motors contain nothing that can not be replaced, even the armature can be rewound and the bearings are standard.

You may need a bearing puller, do some research, if that has not been covered above, your worst fear is to bend the shaft on the motor, if that happens it is shot. So take it easy and do not rush any of it.

The other thing we need to bear in mind is that we do not have or I am assuming we all do not have the original paperwork with our lathes, including the original bills showing purchase as well as specifications or a full set of instructions (which may have been additionally modified for the custom lathe).

Correct me if I am wrong Presto made a standard model and it could be modified upon reques, a lot of the oddities in various machines could be put down to that.

As for giving your left arm, as long as the lathe made its way to me that is a deal I could live with.

As for noise from motors there should be a lot of decoupling between the drive motor and the platter, it should be nothing to worry about. That drive system is the rolls-royce of drive systems. Give it all a good clean be careful in that gear box though, document it all the way. There may be a special tool for removing gears as well, which you may need. But should be similar method to removing gear box from a car.

I have to say if I was going to add two lathes my collection, this one and the Mystery lathe would be the other and yes I would gladly give your left arms for both of them

[audiocarver]

I wished I had the original documents with my lathe to show what they were doing with it. It came from a studio in Boston that did a lot of work for Muzak back in the 1950s and 1960s and it was rumored to have had the Presto S1 stereo head mounted to it. I wished I got that cutter head too!

Looking at this lathe, I don't think they particularly left it stock either to mount the Westrex 2B head. I'd like to know more about what they did there. I'm wondering what that dial was for on the front right side of his lathe and what looks to be a plate mounted on top of the lathe cabinet? Maybe they beefed something up for stability? But these lathes are pretty heavy already anyways!

[audiocarver]

I just had a second look here now, looks like they moved his overhead back to accommodate the space for the Westrex head and then just used the stock Presto head mount on the carriage.

[sameal]

Yeah i wish i had the presto paperwork as well.

I would have hung onto the mystery lathe if i had space, but i already have a "studio" room thats getting out of hand. Barely fit the presto.

Adams taking care of it now! Its in good hands!

The story i heard on the presto lathe and the mystery lathe was from my boss who bought them. Apparently, he bought SEVEN lathes in an estate sale sort of deal. The presto i guess was considered the runt of the litter (which i very much disagree) because it and the mystery lathe is all that was left when i got there. Theres still a scully in the museum over there that unfortunately is not for sale and one scully that sold before i could get it as well.

So of the seven he had 2 scully's, my presto and the mystery lathe. Just hanging out in an attic. I wonder what the other three were?!

Unfortunately, its all cleaned out. Nothing left.

[sameal]

it was rumored to have had the Presto S1 stereo head mounted to it. I wished I got that cutter head too!

Looking at this lathe, I don't think they particularly left it stock either to mount the Westrex 2B head. I'd like to know more about what they did there. I'm wondering what that dial was for on the front right side of his lathe and what looks to be a plate mounted on top of the lathe cabinet? Maybe they beefed something up for stability? But these lathes are pretty heavy already anyways!

Ah. The unobtainium presto s1. Id love to just SEE one let alone own it.

It does in fact have the cutter arm moved back, and a black cover plate over top of the hole they cut in the anvil.

If that happened, then the motor assembly probably shifted to accommodate it.

The westrex head had a special bracket made to fit the head and the presto mount.

The dial on the front i believe was for stylus heat? But it was disconnected as well as a switch on the side of the lathe anvil. Still havent figured that out entirely. I think the dial is heat and the switch is off/on for something.

And theres a giant arm to hold the cutterhead arm i havent seen onother 8dg's either.

[sameal]

Pictha's

[sameal]

Mo' pitcha's

[Stevie342000]

I wished I had the original documents with my lathe to show what they were doing with it. It came from a studio in Boston that did a lot of work for Muzak back in the 1950s and 1960s and it was rumored to have had the Presto S1 stereo head mounted to it. I wished I got that cutter head too!

Looking at this lathe, I don't think they particularly left it stock either to mount the Westrex 2B head. I'd like to know more about what they did there. I'm wondering what that dial was for on the front right side of his lathe and what looks to be a plate mounted on top of the lathe cabinet? Maybe they beefed something up for stability? But these lathes are pretty heavy already anyways!

This reply is to both Sameal & Audiocarver: most of the equipment would have been standard any mods would be in the invoice and may have been in the paperwork. The owners may have modified them as well they may or may not have put the modification notes with the other paper work.

Aside from the lathe I think the original paperwork is the most important thing, it takes a veil off any mystery as to who and when the modifications were done.

Ah now the Presto S1 I let both of you and Andy (is it that now has the mystery lathe) give up their left arms so I could own it, think of it as gift guys. If memory serves was it not based on the Westrex heads or patents? Seeing one in the flesh would answer a lot of mysteries for us all and it may not have been that difficult to fabricate if you wanted to make replicas either.

It is a shame when companies go out of business that the paperwork is one of the main things that gets put in the dumpster, same thing happened with Sugden (AR Connoisseur) - the guy with the one for sale recently on eBay will not make copies of the paper work - at all asked him more than once.

Sorry I just do not understand his stance - it is with a certain amount of glee that I can report that as of yesterday he did not manage to sell it at £4199 - its been listed at least 3 times so far, he did not manage to sell it about 12 months ago when he wanted £1999 for it. He must think he is at on a pot of gold. I did not pay (£2K)that much for 2 AR Sugden (Connoisseur) lathes, 1 Connoisseur HQ20 (power amplifier - fully serviced), Presto head mount adaptor and a Presto 1-D cutter head fully serviced by Len at HRS, plus Neumann stylus adaptor for the Presto head and a Caps SX68/74 cutting stylus not used.

Back to the Presto S1 it would have been (I would assume) the pinnacle of their cutting range of heads bear in mind the 1-D was post WW2 circa 1947 and probably their most successful head in terms of sales, can not remember if the 1-C was available at the same time but both would have been one of their best sellers along with a Presto 6N.

Any variety of 8D, 8DG or 8DV would have had much lower sales than the Presto 6N, this are only assumptions, however these were the most versatile of the Presto Lathes, the 6N essentially being the every man's, everyday cutting lathe - cut n play.

[audiocarver]

I wished I had the original documents with my lathe to show what they were doing with it. It came from a studio in Boston that did a lot of work for Muzak back in the 1950s and 1960s and it was rumored to have had the Presto S1 stereo head mounted to it. I wished I got that cutter head too!

Looking at this lathe, I don't think they particularly left it stock either to mount the Westrex 2B head. I'd like to know more about what they did there. I'm wondering what that dial was for on the front right side of his lathe and what looks to be a plate mounted on top of the lathe cabinet? Maybe they beefed something up for stability? But these lathes are pretty heavy already anyways!

This reply is to both Sameal & Audiocarver: most of the equipment would have been standard any mods would be in the invoice and may have been in the paperwork. The owners may have modified them as well they may or may not have put the modification notes with the other paper work.

Aside from the lathe I think the original paperwork is the most important thing, it takes a veil off any mystery as to who and when the modifications were done.

Ah now the Presto S1 I let both of you and Andy (is it that now has the mystery lathe) give up their left arms so I could own it, think of it as gift guys. If memory serves was it not based on the Westrex heads or patents? Seeing one in the flesh would answer a lot of mysteries for us all and it may not have been that difficult to fabricate if you wanted to make replicas either.

It is a shame when companies go out of business that the paperwork is one of the main things that gets put in the dumpster, same thing happened with Sugden (AR Connoisseur) - the guy with the one for sale recently on eBay will not make copies of the paper work - at all asked him more than once.

Sorry I just do not understand his stance - it is with a certain amount of glee that I can report that as of yesterday he did not manage to sell it at £4199 - its been listed at least 3 times so far, he did not manage to sell it about 12 months ago when he wanted £1999 for it. He must think he is at on a pot of gold. I did not pay (£2K)that much for 2 AR Sugden (Connoisseur) lathes, 1 Connoisseur HQ20 (power amplifier - fully serviced), Presto head mount adaptor and a Presto 1-D cutter head fully serviced by Len at HRS, plus Neumann stylus adaptor for the Presto head and a Caps SX68/74 cutting stylus not used.

Back to the Presto S1 it would have been (I would assume) the pinnacle of their cutting range of heads bear in mind the 1-D was post WW2 circa 1947 and probably their most successful head in terms of sales, can not remember if the 1-C was available at the same time but both would have been one of their best sellers along with a Presto 6N.

Any variety of 8D, 8DG or 8DV would have had much lower sales than the Presto 6N, this are only assumptions, however these were the most versatile of the Presto Lathes, the 6N essentially being the every man's, everyday cutting lathe - cut n play.

I don't know if the S1 was a Westerx licensed head or not? Others have surmised it was made by Presto themselves as the head was reportedly smaller than the Westrex 3D, more along the lines of a Neumann SX15 or SX45 size. I'm not sure if Presto ganged together two A93 amplifiers then to drive it? Was there something else instead? Did it have feedback? Like a Tootsie Roll lolly pop, the world may never know!

Yes, I don't get the logic with that Sugden lathe seller either! The paperwork with that lathe really doesn't add any value to the lathe itself, it just answers a lot of questions about the maker and their products. He should just donate the damn thing to a museum and they can have it all as a display piece! I think part of that attitude comes from the idea every other studio want's to be different and they in turn think what they are doing is a secret, but how many secrets are really left to be had with cutting vinyl? Especially now that it's been over 100 years!

In today's world of digital media, are there really computer programmers that are located in some or all of these studios that write their own plug-ins and what not? With all that's out there now on the market, I cannot help but think, what a waste of time and money?!

What happened with Presto is the worst too as they were bought up by Bogen Co and then at a later time all former Presto assets were later diluted. The market really dried up for Presto back in the 1950s and 1960s since most places were starting to replace transcription disks with tape. I think they came out with the 8D line of lathes to be a low cost competitor to Scully and perhaps Neumann but really, it was too late.

[audiocarver]

Hi Sameal,

The switch on the anvil is to turn on that small 6.3v transformer, which in turn, turns on the microscope light that pugs into the top microscope post plug.

Presto 8GV Microscop.JPG

Presto8GV Microscope.JPG

I'm gonna guess that the large pot was for a custom stylus heater supply, but you would have to add a 0-1 amp ammeter someplace.

Andy

[grooveguy]

Ah, yes, the elusive Presto S1 cutterhead.

According to Presto literature, the design was licensed from Westrex, but that's about as far as the whole project went. As far as I can recall, not even a photo of the head was published by Presto, although it did appear as "coming soon" in a short-form catalog.

According to the late Bob Morrison, Presto handcrafted a very few of these heads, but whether they got outside the plant or not is unknown. The intent was a drop-in replacement for the 1D, so the dimensions would have had to have been far more diminutive than any Westrex, Neumann or Haeco. It was said NOT to have been a feedback head, and the fact that it never made it to market suggests that performance wasn't all that spectacular.

Bob Morrison recollected once that, in the infancy of stereo records, several kludges were suggested (and even patented!) for using two mono cutterheads for stereo. I would assume that these were simply mounted at right angles, canted 45 degrees, and their armatures coupled to a stylus holder in much the same way as some of the homebrew stereo cutters are fabricated by experimenters on this group and on YouTube. This is an idea I've considered, but not put into practice. The little Astatic M-41 magnetic (not crystal) cutterhead that came on some General Industries decks, and was used in the least expensive Rek-O-Kut lathe, might have possibilities in this direction. It's physically small, but the moving iron has low mass and the head was useful out to 10kHz or so. Two of those, or something patterned after it, might well fit in the space of a 1D and be universally applicable on any lathe meant to take a 'standard' cutterhead. The 1D, the RCA, Webster and some others were all about the same size with the same mounting hole centers and distance from the disc surface.

I don't see mention of the S1 on Alan Graves' Presto History Website. But Alan has a very comprehensive history of Presto, including lots of photos. Some of the lathes pictured on Alan's site are quite rare; a number of which I've never seen before. Check it out: http://www.prestohistory.com/Presto.htm

[grooveguy]

Aha! I found mention and a photo of that Presto S1.

Snap13.jpg

[Stevie342000]

I wished I had the original documents with my lathe to show what they were doing with it. It came from a studio in Boston that did a lot of work for Muzak back in the 1950s and 1960s and it was rumored to have had the Presto S1 stereo head mounted to it. I wished I got that cutter head too!

Looking at this lathe, I don't think they particularly left it stock either to mount the Westrex 2B head. I'd like to know more about what they did there. I'm wondering what that dial was for on the front right side of his lathe and what looks to be a plate mounted on top of the lathe cabinet? Maybe they beefed something up for stability? But these lathes are pretty heavy already anyways!

This reply is to both Sameal & Audiocarver: most of the equipment would have been standard any mods would be in the invoice and may have been in the paperwork. The owners may have modified them as well they may or may not have put the modification notes with the other paper work.

Aside from the lathe I think the original paperwork is the most important thing, it takes a veil off any mystery as to who and when the modifications were done.

Ah now the Presto S1 I let both of you and Andy (is it that now has the mystery lathe) give up their left arms so I could own it, think of it as gift guys. If memory serves was it not based on the Westrex heads or patents? Seeing one in the flesh would answer a lot of mysteries for us all and it may not have been that difficult to fabricate if you wanted to make replicas either.

It is a shame when companies go out of business that the paperwork is one of the main things that gets put in the dumpster, same thing happened with Sugden (AR Connoisseur) - the guy with the one for sale recently on eBay will not make copies of the paper work - at all asked him more than once.

Sorry I just do not understand his stance - it is with a certain amount of glee that I can report that as of yesterday he did not manage to sell it at £4199 - its been listed at least 3 times so far, he did not manage to sell it about 12 months ago when he wanted £1999 for it. He must think he is at on a pot of gold. I did not pay (£2K)that much for 2 AR Sugden (Connoisseur) lathes, 1 Connoisseur HQ20 (power amplifier - fully serviced), Presto head mount adaptor and a Presto 1-D cutter head fully serviced by Len at HRS, plus Neumann stylus adaptor for the Presto head and a Caps SX68/74 cutting stylus not used.

Back to the Presto S1 it would have been (I would assume) the pinnacle of their cutting range of heads bear in mind the 1-D was post WW2 circa 1947 and probably their most successful head in terms of sales, can not remember if the 1-C was available at the same time but both would have been one of their best sellers along with a Presto 6N.

Any variety of 8D, 8DG or 8DV would have had much lower sales than the Presto 6N, this are only assumptions, however these were the most versatile of the Presto Lathes, the 6N essentially being the every man's, everyday cutting lathe - cut n play.

I don't know if the S1 was a Westerx licensed head or not? Others have surmised it was made by Presto themselves as the head was reportedly smaller than the Westrex 3D, more along the lines of a Neumann SX15 or SX45 size. I'm not sure if Presto ganged together two A93 amplifiers then to drive it? Was there something else instead? Did it have feedback? Like a Tootsie Roll lolly pop, the world may never know!

Yes, I don't get the logic with that Sugden lathe seller either! The paperwork with that lathe really doesn't add any value to the lathe itself, it just answers a lot of questions about the maker and their products. He should just donate the damn thing to a museum and they can have it all as a display piece! I think part of that attitude comes from the idea every other studio want's to be different and they in turn think what they are doing is a secret, but how many secrets are really left to be had with cutting vinyl? Especially now that it's been over 100 years!

In today's world of digital media, are there really computer programmers that are located in some or all of these studios that write their own plug-ins and what not? With all that's out there now on the market, I cannot help but think, what a waste of time and money?!

What happened with Presto is the worst too as they were bought up by Bogen Co and then at a later time all former Presto assets were later diluted. The market really dried up for Presto back in the 1950s and 1960s since most places were starting to replace transcription disks with tape. I think they came out with the 8D line of lathes to be a low cost competitor to Scully and perhaps Neumann but really, it was too late.

Yes the 8D may have been too late but thought they had unit like that from the late 40s onwards. Lack of foresight and ageing executives lead to the sale to Bogen in 1955. It is obvious that Presto was sidelined there late tape machines were another example of a product too late, Ampex already had market share in tapes. Disc cutting both at home and in the radio station was coming to an end by the early to mid-1950s.

Ah now as for the S1 I went and did a search, there is a leaflet either on here or on-line stating S1 coming soon but see attached files. Plus see below it may not have reached full development or gone into production and thus the market.

Seems that Presto and Sugden were asset stripped, then shut down permanently when both were viable business well at least the latter was it has a full order book.

[sameal]

I purchased the 8gv manual from alan graves for its vari-pitch diagram.

Inside there was an option to have the S-1 head come with your 8gv.



Someone smarter and richer then me should buy up presto from bogen and start up again. Im sure bogen doesnt even remember presto at this point.

[sameal]

Serious buisness though, with the vinyl uprising, lack of competition and bogen sleeping on presto this could be a niche opportunity.

Plenty of information available to upgrade original design, and really, no huge players in the buisness to contend with plus independent developers are making interesting products to incorporate.

If i was buisness savy.......

[Stevie342000]

Serious buisness though, with the vinyl uprising, lack of competition and bogen sleeping on presto this could be a niche opportunity.

Plenty of information available to upgrade original design, and really, no huge players in the buisness to contend with plus independent developers are making interesting products to incorporate.

If i was buisness savy.......

Now who is going to write the email to Bogen to revive Presto? Not a bad thought, more chance of selling Presto cutting lathes than any others.

The only fly in the ointment might be that they do not have the paperwork but they could backwards engineer it but if they did it is a still a niche market and I would not expect much change out $20-30K unless of course they were looking at volume production.


But not a bad idea at all

[sameal]

I dunno. If they played both markets, consumer and professional it could be profitable i feel. Especially with updated tech and blanks production.

Something like the little soundscribers but with usable formats, but also something like an updated 8dg/8dv hybrid as well. Then blanks and needles from the same place? Suspension and mount options for other company heads old and new?

[audiocarver]

Well, thank you both very much for the leaflets about the S1 cutter head. Now I know for sure they were licensed by Westrex.

[audiocarver]

Even back in the day, lathe production was high dollar, low volume type production. Sure Presto made a lot of 6Ns, but all of their larger units were sold in much lower numbers, 100 to 200 or less.

Even the Scully or Neumann lathes were really, low volume produced, like 200 or 300 in 5 to 10 years time for a popular sold model.

[sameal]

Is anybody using an overhead lamp when cutting on these?