http://www.lathetrolls.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=4988
Some time has passed, and while I was able to put some time into cleaning it up, I've come to the conclusion that I will never have time to introduce myself to this hobby. I'm putting the unit up for sale on eBay in a couple days, and I wanted to give the forum members a head's up before I start the sale. I'll edit this post to include the link to the listing once it's live. I'll only be accepting local pickup in Richmond, VA due to the size of the unit. On the plus side, I'm not that far off the interstate. It's being sold as-is, because I have no idea how to check it out even for basic function.
I'd like to thank the forum members - I received a warm welcome here and you all were very open with your knowledge. I was able to learn a lot in a little time both from your responses to my post, emails with forum members, and general perusal of the subforums. It's good to know the skills of maintaining and using this technology is alive and well.
Here's a partial listing text for the auction:
Up for auction is a Presto Model 75 record cutter lathe. The cutter has been removed from its original case and mounted in a rolling cabinet with storage below. It belonged to my grandfather, who used it at the radio station where he worked. My grandfather was a radio fanatic, and from what I remember, had an entire room in his small house that was dedicated to radio equipment. This was one of the items from his estate, and I would not be surprised at all if he fabricated this custom cabinet himself.
The Presto unit appears to be in fine condition, but I am not familiar with this equipment. The turntable spins level, freely, and silently. The internal gears on the table appear in good condition. The unit comes with a Presto 1-C cutter head and the accompanying damper. There is no original tone arm with the unit, but I am selling it with both a Gray Research tone arm with no cartridge, and an unknown tonearm marked 5A with a cartridge marked VRII that was wrapped in protective plastic prior to taking photos. The crinkle finish on the unmarked tonearm seems to indicate a contemporary item to the age of the lathe.
While not my area of expertise, here is what I have determined about the custom cabinet. Power comes from what appears to be a typical 110 wire, but the plug end has been cut off so I can't be certain. The power feeds through a 15amp fuse and then through a switch located on the side of the unit. From there it feeds through a duplex outlet and into another switch. I believe this is so you can power just the outlet, or the outlet and cutter unit. There are two lights on the front of the machine - I'm guessing one red and one white, which appear to indicate whether power is activated on the two "circuits". There are also two dials located on the front of the cabinet behind the door. One appears to be a 4 position dial, the other has much finer gradation. There are various other items and wires mounted to the sides of the cabinet that I can't even guess at. The largest of those items (right side as seen from the rear, mounted below the shelf) has its own power cord, which I assume plugs into the duplex outlet on the opposite wall.
