Leaning back

[tragwag]

hmmm. this hasn't happened to me, I don't think.
I'll take a look at some of my cuts tomorrow and get back to you.

it might be that the stylus isn't straight on with the disc while cutting.
maybe it moves around during the cut?

what cutting head do you have?

[marchingband]

I have a Grampian type D, recently serviced.
could it be resonance at a certain frequency? it sounds like it happens at around 8k.

[tragwag]

it might be resonances,
that's pretty simple to test.
run a couple of different tones through the head to see what the grooves look like at each frequency.

also, I checked my 'impressed' grooves in my microscope and can't see any ridges like you have.
might be because I don't have that much magnification.

have you tried increasing the depth?
It almost looks like your stylus might be skating and bouncing along the surface of the disc.
You might also try an agent to decrease friction between stylus and blank, such as turtle wax/veggie oil.

[sunkingrecords]

Hello!

I'm trying PC embossing at the moment.
It seems that the lower the angle where the stylus hits the record (that is, the least vertical position) the easier is to cut the material (but more weight needed), but I think this must be detrimental to the sound. As the point "drawing" the sound waves is less a point and more like a line.

What I'm asking is, if the goal is to use the most vertical position that can cut the material?

I'm using a backwards sapphire by the way, and trying variable degrees of stylus and blank heat.

Kind regards

Miguel

[tragwag]

as far as surface noise is concerned, the more back angle you add, the quieter you can get the groove.
the more vertical it is, the more of the wrong facet is making the groove.

Yes the groove geometry with embossed records is not ideal, but it happens to work.
The audio transmission is fine, of no degradation at all.

[sunkingrecords]

Thank you tragwag!

Will keep trying angles to see what happens.

Do you polish the PC before using? I'm just applying a layer of "Blem" (a kind of furniture polish for home cleaning, as Turtle wax doesn't exists in Argentina) for lubrication (it does help a lot regarding noise levels)

Kind regards

[tragwag]

yep, I use an anti-static spray developed for cds.

[symatic]

somehow ended up on this thread... some really interesting posts which i can relate to from some of you more experienced heads, so it feels like i'm treading down the right path....

I'm Embossing wuth PIPTK sapphire stylii on a Presto 5C, on to Polycarb blanks.

I get a fair amount of noise and I'm trying to work out iif a more angled stylus would help? I tihnk Mike suggests an angle of 2degrees for these sapphires, but if anyone has any advice or tipe i'd appreciate it.

so far i've noticed that cutting with 20-30g weight nearly always results in a skipping record, so i go for about 40-50g, but lose some high frequencies and the sound is a bit "squashed".

I heat the PC up to about 30 degrees with a little red lamp form a reptile tank.

The 5C's weight is adjusted with a spring, other than that it's just it's own weight holding it down.

[Jccc]

When you say the high frequencies seemed squashed when adding more weight. Maybe try boosting the highs a bit more to compensate for the loss?

i have my cutting head (Fairchild) leaning as far back as i can go with the weight of it fully slammed on my 6N.

i seem to be getting pretty decent embossed grooves with it and the translation seems sorta close to the original i do have to boost the highs just a tad bit.

I do noticed that i cant turn the volume up too loud on the recording or else it runs the risk of the grooves kissing.
That can be solved tho with a lower LPI feed screw.

One thing i did notice is that the car polish stuff really helps on keeping the poly sheets a slick. Scared to use the lighter fluid because of the heat lamp im using.

[soeffingodly]

somehow ended up on this thread... some really interesting posts which i can relate to from some of you more experienced heads, so it feels like i'm treading down the right path....

I'm Embossing wuth PIPTK sapphire stylii on a Presto 5C, on to Polycarb blanks.

I get a fair amount of noise and I'm trying to work out iif a more angled stylus would help? I tihnk Mike suggests an angle of 2degrees for these sapphires, but if anyone has any advice or tipe i'd appreciate it.

so far i've noticed that cutting with 20-30g weight nearly always results in a skipping record, so i go for about 40-50g, but lose some high frequencies and the sound is a bit "squashed".

I heat the PC up to about 30 degrees with a little red lamp form a reptile tank.

The 5C's weight is adjusted with a spring, other than that it's just it's own weight holding it down.

I am using PIAPTK's embossing cones as well. I only have a slight angle like Mike suggests. [2-3 degrees] When I was using my Presto 1C head it used less weight because the head was heavier. Now that I am rocking a grampian head I need more weight but that is due to the weight (or lack of weight) of the head itself. I use lighter fluid and a heating lamp bulb and have not had any issues or mishaps. Technically you don't even need the heat with the embossing cones. I remember getting a temperature gun and it has sat in my box with my record cutting tools since as far as I can remember.

I'm getting great sounding cuts with little noise.

[piaptk]

The lighter fluid dries super quickly. You are basically just removing the adhesive from the protective layer.

I believe we usually use 2degree angle, 35-40g worth of weight and it has low surface noise and tracks well on a crosley.

When used correctly, the noise floor should be very low immediately after the cut (although poly builds up static and attracts dust which will cause noise to appear after the dirt builds up). But there are a lot of variables that could cause noise. We 100% never ever have noise that is even barely audible under music unless there is a problem in the lathe settings or the tip has been broken off.