I'm Not Getting "Hair-like" shavings. Whats Wrong?

This is where record cutters raise questions about cutting, and trade wisdom and experiment results. We love Scully, Neumann, Presto, & Rek-O-Kut lathes and Wilcox-Gay Recordios (among others). We are excited by the various modern pro and semi-pro systems, too, in production and development. We use strange, extinct disc-based dictation machines. And other stuff, too.

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timinbovey
Posts: 50
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2017 11:31 am

I'm Not Getting "Hair-like" shavings. Whats Wrong?

Post: # 48062Unread post timinbovey
Sun Oct 08, 2017 8:44 am

Didn't quite know how to phrase the subject, LOL.

I'm getting my Presto J-5 going. I do not get fine "hair like" thread when cutting. I get curly crumbly balls of shavings. That tend to hang around the stylus.

I can remember cutting on my Recordio 40 years ago getting nice, long thread-like shavings that I could remove in one nice ball off the spindle at the end of a cut.

I do not seem to be able to achieve this on the J-5. I'm using brand new Apollo blanks, brand new Transco ruby stylus, and the Audax head was just rebuilt by Gil.

I have adjusted the spring for cut depth from full lightness to full heavyness and the resulting shavings remain a fine curly ball that crumbles to dust between my fingers.
I've adjusted the angle of the stylus quite a bit making no difference in shavings, but being able to change the surface noise quite a bit LOL.

I've made many 10-15 second test cuts and have achieved the lowest surface noise I could, which is barely noticeable when audio is recorded.

As the amp in my machine is not working I just quickly (only for testing) grabbed audio off the headphone jack of my vintage stereo receiver -- plenty to get proper readings on the
meter on the Presto, and get recordings that sound OK when quickly tested on a modern stereo turntable with modern stereo stylus.

But everything I read from the Presto manual to every book I've read on the subject, to my recollections from the "good ol' days" tell me somethings not right -- I shouldn't
get curley, balled up, crumbly shavings.

Odd, since back in the late 70's I was cutting on original blanks from the 40's and they were cutting beautifully!

Tim in Bovey

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Gridlock
Posts: 286
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2011 6:41 pm
Location: eugene oregon

Re: I'm Not Getting "Hair-like" shavings. Whats Wrong?

Post: # 48064Unread post Gridlock
Sun Oct 08, 2017 2:26 pm

Flip the needle around
<\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\[[[[[[[\/]]]]]]]\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\>
Recordette Sr.......Presto K-8

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timinbovey
Posts: 50
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2017 11:31 am

Re: I'm Not Getting "Hair-like" shavings. Whats Wrong?

Post: # 48067Unread post timinbovey
Sun Oct 08, 2017 7:43 pm

LOL.. Don't think that's going to do it. Ya gotta have the pointy side down and the flat toward the set-screw.

There aren't really any options!

Tim in Bovey

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