New to me Presto D7

[LazarusLong]

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Hello. New to the forums.. I picked up a presto d7 yesterday. It hasnt been plugged in in roughly 30 years. Obvious things that need to be fixed are, the idler wheel, and the needle is missing from the cutter head.. Aside from some surface rust, it is in pretty good shape. I am pretty sure it is all original.. Here are a few pictures. I really dont know much about these machines. I believe it is for mono cutting of 78s.. Any info would be appreciated!

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[Prestofan]

This is a very early Presto recorder, and is nearly identical to the model E as depicted on my Presto history, www.prestohistory.com. Yours is indeed mono, 12 inch turntable and 78 speed. Looks in very good condition. After some tender care, it should be able to cut again, although at 78 and mono. Good find on such an old machine. Approx 1934,1935.


Alan Graves

[LazarusLong]

Thanks for the info! Does the fact that it cuts at 78 make it less desirable? Do people modify these? Upgrade the motor and cutter?

[piaptk]

It’s is much less desirable if it only cuts 78. But you can have a new motor capstan made that is smaller and will cut 33.

EDIT: I’m gonna walk that back. The capstan appears to be pretty small already. So you might not be able to make a capstan that is small enough to cut at 33. You may have to replace the whole motor as well.

[piaptk]

That idler definitely needs a trip to Terry’s Rubber rollers. And you can get sapphire embossing needles from me at www.recordlatheparts.com

[markrob]

Hi,

The other option would be to run the AC motor with a single phase variable frequency drive to slow it down. You would only need a bit more than 2:1 speed reduction to cut 33 rpm. Several years ago I hacked an off the shelf AC inverter to work as a simple V/F drive. Worked great with an old Presto turntable. I had separate controls for frequency and voltage, so could back the voltage down at lower RPM's just as a real V/F drive would do. See the attached schematics. IF you want more help feel free to contact me via PM.

150 Watt Inverter Original.pdf

150 Watt Inverter Modified.pdf

Mark

[LazarusLong]

My ultimate goal for this machine is to move it along to someone that will restore it.. If anyone here is interested, let me know. I would gladly make a contribution to the site.. I'm located in Kalamazoo MI. I would rather not ship, and I would be willing to travel(within reason) if someone is seriously interested in purchasing. Should I create an ad in the classified section of the site?

[Gridlock]

Adjust your genre. Perhaps you live in a town where people play old timey music. This is a predecessor to the k series. These make the best 78s. When you are used to cutting at 33, 78 can scare you bc it's so very much faster.

[Xertz]

I'm pretty sure I saw this same lathe in Kalamazoo on Craigslist the other day. Whadaya know?

[LazarusLong]

I'm pretty sure I saw this same lathe in Kalamazoo on Craigslist the other day. Whadaya know?

You might have seen the ad for the estate sale I bought it at.. Whadaya know?