Lockdown turntable and lathe - a DIY project

[Alex112233]

Hey Guys. Can you tell me if PUIAudio ASX03604-R or Soberton E-3304 will be used as a replacement for Tectonic?

[grooveguy]

The Soberton looks to be just about the same size, the PUI is a bit smaller. What's the situation here, does the exciter need to fit a specific 3D-printed frame or something? Any of those exciters ought to work. I do tend toward the Dayton Audio one as it's been in production for quite a while and is available from so many sources... even Amazon.

Snap1.jpg

[fanelx]

Hello, how are you? Greetings from Argentina! Great job on your work! I also added you on Instagram. I'm currently building my own machine for personal use, and your posts have been very helpful! I'm dealing with some issues at the moment, but I'm slowly solving everything. I wanted to ask you about this metal bar seen in the image (highlighted in the red box) and the cylinder that seems to be made of rubber (highlighted in yellow). What is its function? What is it connected to? Also, I wanted to ask how I can determine the correct volume to record my discs. Is there a way to measure it? Between the PC software volume, the PC’s volume control, and the amplifier of the lathe recorder, there are so many variables, and I’m really lost. Your response would be really helpful!

[Fattcamp]

Fattcamp: As far as a turntable mat goes, I've always used either 1/16-inch sheet cork, which is a bit fragile, or the 'rubberized' equivalent, also 1/16 thick, generally intended for DIY gaskets for automotive purposes. The rubberized stuff, often associated with the brand name 'Permatex,' is tough and has a very flat surface. It glues down nicely with 3M "77" spray adhesive. The only caveat is that it's flexible, of course, and might not do well for covering consumer playback turntables that have large holes (for lifting the turntable or checking belts, etc.). Recording turntables want to be solid, and I've even used 'JB Weld' (epoxy) to fill unwanted holes in the platter. You don't want a thick, squishy turntable mat, especially for embossing, and this material, as thin as it is, won't allow the blank disc to deform under the weight required for embossing. This is the stuff I use as sold on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Cork-rubber-gasket-material-16-inch/dp/B0987HC9MG/ref=sr_1_14?
The 18-inch width works for turntables up to 16", but may be bigger than you need. There are other Amazon listings for 12" widths at lower prices, just make sure it's thin material to ensure a firm surface for your blank to sit on.

Thanks for the info on this. I've been meaning to respond. Yeah I'm trying not to do anything permanent as far as adhering the mat to the platter but this looks like another good option. I grabbed one of the Fluance mats from Amazon (https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01JSWK3FC?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2). It seems to be firm enough, fairly thin and actually sits flat. I don't even need to clamp the blank down with this one compared to the Hudson Hi Fi one that definitely caused the blank to slip with 40g of pressure. I even tried to get the Hudson Hi Fi one a 3rd time but it too was warped.

Hello here from Denmark.
I am new here and trying to make a record cutter like David`s in ALUMIDE from I.materialise but they do not allow the measurement of the Torque tube 18deg.The minimum from them is 6mm. 6mm.28mm and David`s is 5,3mm.5.3mm. 25mm . Hope someone can help me thanks.

Best regards Jan Madsen Denmark

I don't have an answer specifically regarding alumide printing through I.Materialize, but I had the parts 3d printed with standard PETG filament and with the EQ Mapping process from spinnertownblanks, I'm getting great results. Check his thread (https://www.lathetrolls.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10321) or original blog (https://spinnertownblanks.com/blogs/spinner-town-blog/how-to-map-and-eq-your-dynamic-cutterhead) for a breakdown. I do a primary sort of "coarse" match-eq for the cutterhead and a secondary "fine" match-eq just to help out a couple of frequencies a bit more. I've been meaning to post my latest results so I'll try and get that on here soon. I should note that this calibration method was intended for cutting and not embossing, but the process works great for me!

Hello, how are you? Greetings from Argentina! Great job on your work! I also added you on Instagram. I'm currently building my own machine for personal use, and your posts have been very helpful! I'm dealing with some issues at the moment, but I'm slowly solving everything. I wanted to ask you about this metal bar seen in the image (highlighted in the red box) and the cylinder that seems to be made of rubber (highlighted in yellow). What is its function? What is it connected to? Also, I wanted to ask how I can determine the correct volume to record my discs. Is there a way to measure it? Between the PC software volume, the PC’s volume control, and the amplifier of the lathe recorder, there are so many variables, and I’m really lost. Your response would be really helpful!

Hey there. I'm going to start this off by saying I've built this lathe but I'm still a noob compared to others here so take what I say with a grain of salt. The metal bar and rubber piece you're speaking about is I believe what prevents the torque tube from moving in undesired directions. Rather than the torque tube (and stylus) moving forwards and backwards, it only allows side to side movement. I did some reading up on "piano wire" on the forum awhile back during my build and those posts can probably explain better. I think I stripped a stiff electrical wire, took the wire and clamped it to the head (Green Box) and then epoxied within the torque tube which you can barely see (Red box) and got the same result. I saw someone on the forum do this and it worked for me. This way, it's potentially reversible by taking out the screws/clamp and lopping off the epoxied torque tube if I wanted to try another method.

Piano Wire.jpg

As for volume, you can get a meter but I don't have one currently. I have an audio interface connected to the computer which connects to an amp, then to 2 x inline 500ma fast blow fuses and then finally to the cutterhead. I set my amp volume at 12:00 (200w x side @ 8 ohms) and use mixer software that comes with the audio interface to control volume. I use the vinyl burn preview function to play music and use the mixer (and amp) to find a suitable volume. It really depends on a number of factors (Type of music, frequencies, amp power, volume of tracks, sibilance etc...). You want to be careful you don't damage the cutterhead (that's why I use fuses). During any test cuts, I push the volume incrementally but make sure the amp isn't clipping. There will be a point of diminishing returns and your end result won't be as loud (in my experience) as the original audio if mastered for standard use. I tend to record the cuts back into my DAW and analyze the results to see where the sweet spot is. In my case, the prepared audio has lots of top end to factor in inverse RIAA (See the above blog for more info) so you really need to be careful to not send too much signal/volume to the drivers.

Dave

[lucianardeleanu98]

The Soberton looks to be just about the same size, the PUI is a bit smaller. What's the situation here, does the exciter need to fit a specific 3D-printed frame or something? Any of those exciters ought to work. I do tend toward the Dayton Audio one as it's been in production for quite a while and is available from so many sources... even Amazon.


Snap1.jpg

Hello All! I'm newbie here, passionate about vinyl records and I am very interested to build this project. From what I see in both datasheets, the dimensions are the same for both drivers, I don't see an issue regarding those fittings. I don't know what to say regarding the quality of the recorded disks, regarding the impedance difference. In his original list, David choose TEAX19C01, which are 8 Ohms impedance. The DAEX19CT­4 from Dayton Audio are rated at 4 ohms impedance.
In contrary, the frequency response seems to be better on DAEX19CT­4 from Dayton Audio instead of TEAX19C01...
I don't know that this really matters...just asking an engineer question from a newbie...

It would be very helpful for me, if you can provide here an updated list of links where you found replacements ( from Aliexpress, or others ) from David's original list of materials. It would be very appreciated.
Thank you in advance.

Luci.

[markrob]

Hi,
The acoustic response graphs have little meaning in this application. You are not trying to move air via a diaphragm. What you care about are the power handling limits, moving mass of the voice coil, and the BL specs. Taken together, they predict how efficient the driver will be at moving the stylus. The BL spec tells you how much force in Newtons are generated per amp of drive coil current. It can get tricky to pick the best driver since all of these specs interact. For example, you might find a driver has a very high BL but lower max power spec or higher moving mass that would counter the better BL. Not all brands provide the BL and moving mass specs. That makes it hard to compare unless you measure yourself using something like the DATS system from Dayton. The quality of the voice coil and how well you can physically couple to it are also important. You would like it to be very stiff and free of resonances. Unless you want to get deep into the details, probably just need to go with the original driver specified or do two builds and compare. Hope that is helpful.

Mark

[lucianardeleanu98]

Hi,
The acoustic response graphs have little meaning in this application. You are not trying to move air via a diaphragm. What you care about are the power handling limits, moving mass of the voice coil, and the BL specs. Taken together, they predict how efficient the driver will be at moving the stylus. The BL spec tells you how much force in Newtons are generated per amp of drive coil current. It can get tricky to pick the best driver since all of these specs interact. For example, you might find a driver has a very high BL but lower max power spec or higher moving mass that would counter the better BL. Not all brands provide the BL and moving mass specs. That makes it hard to compare unless you measure yourself using something like the DATS system from Dayton. The quality of the voice coil and how well you can physically couple to it are also important. You would like it to be very stiff and free of resonances. Unless you want to get deep into the details, probably just need to go with the original driver specified or do two builds and compare. Hope that is helpful.

Mark

Thank you for your clarifications! Indeed, it worth making 2 setups and try with both coin exciters and see results!

Also, did someone, other that David finished the entire project? How are the results compared to David's video from YouTube? Also, it would be useful if you can provide some samples recorded from lathe vinyl.

Best regards,
Luci

[shtipkov]

Hello,
I've managed to move linear rail correctly with the A4988 driver and the cutterhead is moving along the vinyl. Now it's time to try emboss some grooves on the record.
Could you let me know which amplifier you're using, including the brand and model ?
Regards,
Todor

[Alex112233]

Hi everyone,
I’m finally back to the project! My daughter was born recently, so I had to take a break from working on it.

Now that I’m back, I need a bit of help. You can see in the photo where I left off. Today I continued reading the instructions — sorry in advance for any dumb questions!

The first thing I wasn’t sure about was:
"Insert the 1mm steel wire through the small hole in the rear of the head so that it passes through the V-spring and enters the rear of the torque tube."
Am I supposed to glue the wire into the torque tube first, and then attach it to the cutter head body?

I also printed the plastic cones that were mentioned a few times. Just to confirm — we don’t need to drill into them, right? We just install the collar inside, and then insert the rod until it stops?
And then we use epoxy to secure it, correct?

One more question about the LR_controller_circuit. I see there's just one board, but I thought there were multiple. Am I right that I need to solder the LR_controller_circuit and also the other board mentioned on page 5? Are those two boards connected in some way? (I’m totally lost here, to be honest.)

[shtipkov]

One more question about the LR_controller_circuit. I see there's just one board, but I thought there were multiple. Am I right that I need to solder the LR_controller_circuit and also the other board mentioned on page 5? Are those two boards connected in some way? (I’m totally lost here, to be honest.)

About the boards:
You have one Arduino board that controls the stepper motor driver TCM2208, reads the end positions ("two small circuit boards, each with a photointerrupter") and thermistor, and runs the display (you can start without it).
The end positions are connected to the Arduino board according LR_controller_circuit.png - to limit switches

photointerrupter.jpg

I have a "shield" distribution board that clips over the Arduino with socket for the TCM2208 driver, power supply and motor. I use switches for the end positions photointerrupters.

boards.jpg

[Fattcamp]

Also, did someone, other that David finished the entire project? How are the results compared to David's video from YouTube? Also, it would be useful if you can provide some samples recorded from lathe vinyl.

Best regards,
Luci

Hi there. Yes, I've built this lathe as close as humanly possible to David's specs (but used the 3d printed cones rather than aluminum) and it works great! I should also mention I added 500mA fast blow fuses between my amp and cutterhead. I've been meaning to throw some audio from my cuts on here so I'll try to do that in the near future. The only thing I didn't really figure out was why my photointerrupters didn't work after triple checking everything. Either way, in actual usage when setting the zero-point and end parameters in the vinyl burn software, I've never really needed them. It would be handy at some point but once it was functional, I just sort of ran with it.

I used The STB method to map and EQ the cutterhead even though that method was intended for cutting as opposed to embossing. I liked the idea of combining the IRIAA EQ and custom EQ into one. Lots of info on that here: https://www.lathetrolls.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10321

I think they sound really great, while being fully aware of the frequency limitations of embossing vs cutting. I use Mike's sapphire embossing stylus just like David did and local folks seem really happy with my cuts thus far considering it's all DIY stuff. Couldn't have done it without such a helpful forum and instruction set!

Hello,
I've managed to move linear rail correctly with the A4988 driver and the cutterhead is moving along the vinyl. Now it's time to try emboss some grooves on the record.
Could you let me know which amplifier you're using, including the brand and model ?
Regards,
Todor

Awesome! I'm currently using an ART SLA-2 power amp that's 200w/side @ 8-ohms (Cutterhead using the 8-ohm TEAC coin exciters from the build instructions). In Canada, our version of guitar center (Long & McQuade) have ART as a sort of a preferred/house brand so you can get them for a decent price, sometimes used. So far it does the job but wondering if I should be using bit more power.
https://artproaudio.com/installation/product/206801/sla2

Hi everyone,
I’m finally back to the project! My daughter was born recently, so I had to take a break from working on it.

Now that I’m back, I need a bit of help. You can see in the photo where I left off. Today I continued reading the instructions — sorry in advance for any dumb questions!

The first thing I wasn’t sure about was:
"Insert the 1mm steel wire through the small hole in the rear of the head so that it passes through the V-spring and enters the rear of the torque tube."
Am I supposed to glue the wire into the torque tube first, and then attach it to the cutter head body?

I also printed the plastic cones that were mentioned a few times. Just to confirm — we don’t need to drill into them, right? We just install the collar inside, and then insert the rod until it stops?
And then we use epoxy to secure it, correct?

One more question about the LR_controller_circuit. I see there's just one board, but I thought there were multiple. Am I right that I need to solder the LR_controller_circuit and also the other board mentioned on page 5? Are those two boards connected in some way? (I’m totally lost here, to be honest.)

Congratulations! Huge news! If you scroll up a bit, I have a pic of my cutterhead and a bit of info on 1mm steel wire that will hopefully help. It worked for me. As for the plastic cones, You don't need to drill through them, but I did have to make the cavities slightly bigger to be able to fit the collars I bought into them. I also removed a bit of the cavity to be able to access the set screw. The collars were epoxied to the 3d printed cones. I then had small metal pushrods connecting from the collars to the torque tube. Hope that makes sense. Best of luck!

Dave

[pentlandsound]

Just thought I'd chip in here once more with some updates to my project. As some of you may be aware from my YouTube video from a few weeks ago, I have over the summer taken a tentative step into the world of cutting records, as opposed to embossing them.

Firstly, in order to cut records, I needed a cutting stylus. I actually purchased this over two years ago, but with one thing and another the planned "second lathe, for cutting" remained in a half-built state until late June. While I was unpacking my belongings after a partial house rewire I came upon various boxes of partly assembled lathe bits and was more or less shamed into finally doing something about them. Anyway, the stylus: the one I chose came from My Shank, and has part number 362 (Synthetic). I chose this because it has similar dimensions to the Presto embossing styli that I have been using, and this meant that I wouldn't have to design a new cutting head specifically for a new stylus.

Secondly, the considerable expense of the cutting stylus justified a move from home-made circle-cutouts of polycarbonate, to "proper" recording blanks. I had a pack of ten that I had purchased from My Shank at the same time as the stylus. These "Old Style" blanks have a flat profile, being machined from sheets; but since then My Shank has developed "New Style" blanks, which are profiled like commercially pressed records, with thicker label and margin areas. The Welsh company Bladud Flies! distributes My Shank products in the UK. They are extremely helpful and quick to despatch orders.

IMG_20250711_095120973.jpg

The other main problem that I had to solve was how to deal with the swarf, or chip, or thread, that is produced in cutting a record. Having read hundreds of Lathe Trolls' posts on the subject, I'll set down my experiences of tackling this bugbear, in the hope it may be useful.

swarf_everywhere.JPG

To begin with, I had no swarf pick-up system at all, and was resorting to what recordists had to do in the 1940s: brush the swarf to the central area, where it would at least be out of the way. I was having trouble with excess static on the blanks, which was causing the swarf to stick to the surface, and I had to brush quite enthusiastically (with a small paintbrush) to encourage it to congregate around the centre pin. Then I heard about a product called Staticide, and immediately ordered a big bottle from Digikey. It was well worth it - static completely gone!

As for suction/swarf removal systems. First attempt: medical aspirator. This was a cheap(ish) eBay second-hand purchase, and had the advantage of coming with its own purpose-built collection jar; but it couldn't provide enough suction to make swarf capture reliable. It sort of worked, a bit, for 7-inch discs.

IMG_20250626_184739719.jpg

Second attempt: aquarium aerator. Again, an eBay cheapy. In order to get the air flowing in the right direction I reversed the input and output chambers of the pump, as I had read somewhere that you're supposed to do. Maybe I was doing something wrong, but this just did not work at all for me.

IMG_20250705_162540806_HDR.jpg

IMG_20250705_162335392_HDR.jpg

Third attempt: time to bring on the heavy artillery. Several Trolls have reported success using various types of vacuum cleaner. In order to preserve both my sanity and good neighbourly relations, I wanted ideally the quietest cleaner I could find, and struck lucky again on eBay with a second-hand Miele model, named "Complete Silence C3". This is a somewhat optimistic title - it isn't completely silent, but its volume is certainly acceptable and a long way down from my Hoover Deafen-O-Matic. The Miele's power is adjustable over six settings, and there is also a little shutter on the hose attachment that you can open to increase air flow so the thing doesn't overheat and die. I made a little collection canister out of a Tupperware sandwich box, with two connections to the lid. The input is an 8 mm nylon connector, fixed using an M8 nut; the output is a 25 mm OD garden water-barrel connector. To connect the latter to the Miele's hose attachment (35 mm OD) I used a silicone bore reducer (35 > 25 mm) from an auto parts merchant.

IMG_20250903_193951997.jpg

On the lathe itself, the swarf pick-up tube, a length of 6 mm OD aluminium pipe, is fixed to the side bracket of the carriage. Its intake end is flattened enough to allow it to sit directly under the torque tube, about 2 mm behind the stylus. This tube connects using another bore adapter to a 3 m length of PVC pipe, OD 10 mm, ID 8 mm, which fits over the input connector on the swarf canister. (I had tried using a length of 6 mm OD latex tube, but found that the swarf kept bunching inside, forming a blockage.)

IMG_20250903_191535027_HDR2.jpg

With this new configuration of tubes, adapters and vacuum I have just got through a complete 22-minute LP side for the first time without losing the swarf. The Miele was set to its second-lowest of six settings, with the airflow shutter about half open, and ran for the 22 minutes without breaking sweat.

Hope all this is of interest / some use!

David

[PlasticParty]

Fantastic documentation, explaination and work David. It’s great to see that you have developed a viable swarf extraction system. This info is very valuable.

[spinnertownblanks]

Love this thread and great to see updates, good work!

[farmersplow]

Great suction. At first, I also used our Miele ‘Complete Silence C3’ and it worked quite well. However, I then had to replace it. Firstly, it got very hot and I was always worried whether it would withstand the LP or switch itself off. Secondly, my wife wanted it back!
Your Tupperware box was probably from the kitchen too. (That reminds me of many things I stole from the kitchen).
Regarding the 6 mm/8 mm suction hose, here's another tip, if you don't already do this: from time to time, suck some baby powder into the suction pipe at the cutter head. This makes the inner walls smoother, reduces the risk of moisture in the hose and prevents chips from sticking.

Great work, keep it up!

Best regards, Thomas

[grooveguy]

Good tip about the baby powder, Thomas, I'd forgotten all about that. A lot seems to depend on the piping/hose used. Today there's silicone rubber tubing that seems to work okay on its own, but I remember back in the '50s that the latex-based 'surgical tubing' of the day had a tendency to get sticky on the interior surface, while still feeling just fine on the outside. Sucking some cornstarch or talcum powder through the system took care of it for up to a few weeks.

I'm sure there are others in the group that recall the days of anti-static devices that ionized the air in the immediate location of the static problem with atomic radiation. 3M offered 'anti-static bars' incorporating polonium 210. At an 8-track and cassette tape duplicating plant where I worked for a while, several of these bars were mounted near a master-tape endless-loop bin where a loop of one-inch-wide tape was running continuously at 240 inches per second. Even with a carbon coating on the backside of the tape it would build up enormous static charges on cold winter days, sticking to itself and ultimately fouling-up things badly. The 3M bars helped with the issue, but I always wondered how safe those were. Photographers or audiophiles could also buy brush or clip-on static neutralizers to keep negatives or vinyl records clean. These were restricted to "only" 500 microcuries of polonium 210, which has a half-life of 4-5 months.

[farmersplow]

.....3M offered 'anti-static bars' incorporating polonium 210. .....

I wanted to work with plutonium too, but that stuff is so hard to get without disappearing into some hole for radical extremists.

[grooveguy]

Coincidentally, a pushmail piece I just received from the IEEE talks about 'nuclear batteries,' low-power technology for things like pacemakers. It brought up the tale about the kid who collected radioactive material from smoke alarms, plus other 'forbidden' ingredients, again in minuscule quantities, to make his own nuclear reactor. Somehow the authorities were alerted and his home was declared a major hazardous clean-up site. The inset about the enterprising young man is about a third of the way through this article: https://spectrum.ieee.org/nuclear-battery-revival

[farmersplow]

Coincidentally, a pushmail piece I just received from the IEEE talks about 'nuclear batteries,' low-power technology for things like pacemakers. It brought up the tale about the kid who collected radioactive material from smoke alarms, plus other 'forbidden' ingredients, again in minuscule quantities, to make his own nuclear reactor. Somehow the authorities were alerted and his home was declared a major hazardous clean-up site. The inset about the enterprising young man is about a third of the way through this article: https://spectrum.ieee.org/nuclear-battery-revival

A pacemaker that lasts 170 years would be pretty handy. Why am I still working on a power supply for my lathe that runs off the mains? Plutonium is the smart solution!

[imisanthropeofficial]

pentlandsound I'm a bit of an electronics noob, so got a question about the LCD circuit. What is the 10K component?