Hey Ya'll,
now that I got this cutter up and running I've been doing numerous cuts on laserdiscs and here's what I've found;
The noise level is getting quieter the more I practice. It's to a very acceptable level now, I'd say.
For some reason, the cut on the outside is noisier than the middle cut...I don't know why or what the hell - I'm just getting started
I'm heating the disc in rotation for 15 minutes roughly - something about the material doesn't seem to heat very quickly or easily.
I'm using a heating bulb I got from the pet store and lowering it to just over the disc. I have not yet had any troubles with warping as I have with other materials.
I'm heating the stylus as well. I do not yet have my vacuum (it's in the mail) so the chip is there and growing...GROWING...but...When you're heating it sucks right up to the heating wire and seems to stay completely out of the way.
the cut needs to be deep but not too deep. I was cutting a bit too deep and getting ghost signals from the grooves.
I'm using a sapphire and haven't noticed it going bad just yet (I've cut both side of a 12" 6 times (Django Reinhardt and Eric Satie be my tests)
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The hole is slightly smaller than a 45...and why the hell didn't they just make it a 45 size?
to remedy the problem for both cutting and playback, get yourself a 1 1/2" hole cutter, cut a hole out of a laserdisc (anywhere except the center - you want an entire piece of disc), take what's stuck in the hole cutter out, clean it up and cut a proper larger hole in the center to fit a turntable (the center hole of a hole cutter will be slightly too small).
....and now you have laser discs centered on your cutter.
use it as you would a 45 adapter.
If you want a permanent small hole for your disc, epoxy it in to the center of the disc carefully, then cover it with a record label...done deal
That's as far as I've got...Hopefully it helps
cut...it...up
A few notes about Laser discs
Moderators: piaptk, tragwag, Steve E., Aussie0zborn
I bought a bunch of yellow 45rpm spiders, cut the little feet off the legs with wire cutters and permanently encase them in the disc with labels.
You might find as you buy laserdiscs that a lot of them seem to be warped... one side is more warped than the other, so, if you flip them upside down, they don't lift off the turntable during part of the revolution. I don't know if this is because I made the mistake of stacking a bunch of laserdiscs (500+) in large vertical stacks (I didn't know they would warp like records) for a couple months, or if they just seem to warp with age.
I've had no problem cutting laserdiscs with a sapphire. I do it a lot, and it is really the only way I make lps. and, you have a little bit of surface noise (too much for a DJ set at a club, but not too much to be unlistenable for a lo-fi band). Everybody that I've played them for has been pretty surprised at how good they sound. They DO wear down the needle as you are cutting. I get about 300 minutes of cutting time in general before they start to audibly degrade and then another 100 minutes of it going steadily downhill before it is TOO much noise.
After you've worn them out on laserdiscs (assuming you haven't broken the tip), you can emboss cd-rs with them...
You might find as you buy laserdiscs that a lot of them seem to be warped... one side is more warped than the other, so, if you flip them upside down, they don't lift off the turntable during part of the revolution. I don't know if this is because I made the mistake of stacking a bunch of laserdiscs (500+) in large vertical stacks (I didn't know they would warp like records) for a couple months, or if they just seem to warp with age.
I've had no problem cutting laserdiscs with a sapphire. I do it a lot, and it is really the only way I make lps. and, you have a little bit of surface noise (too much for a DJ set at a club, but not too much to be unlistenable for a lo-fi band). Everybody that I've played them for has been pretty surprised at how good they sound. They DO wear down the needle as you are cutting. I get about 300 minutes of cutting time in general before they start to audibly degrade and then another 100 minutes of it going steadily downhill before it is TOO much noise.
After you've worn them out on laserdiscs (assuming you haven't broken the tip), you can emboss cd-rs with them...
I did notice that before I had a vacuum, the swarf would either stick in the groove (and could be blown out afterwards and still sound fine), trail out to the middle, or bunch up around the needle and still not ruin the cut. I used compressed air (like you use to blow out computers) to keep it from getting too clumped up...
Hello there. Here is a video a friend did of diy artist and it has a short clip if my Presto 6n cutting some laser disc.
You can see in the video that i have a small paint brush moving the chip away from the cutting head.
You can skip to 3:59 on the video to see the lathe set up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvrhgWAT3XQ
You can see in the video that i have a small paint brush moving the chip away from the cutting head.
You can skip to 3:59 on the video to see the lathe set up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvrhgWAT3XQ
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ArchaicRecords
- Posts: 56
- Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 10:36 pm
- Location: USA: Lexington, KY