Alan Graves Archives: Cool stuff from Presto expert

[Steve E.]

Alan Graves is our man for all things Presto. He's been a fan of their
recording equipment since his teens, and an expert. You all probably know
his fantastic Presto History site, which by far the best available research on
the company.

http://www.prestohistory.com/Presto.htm

Alan sent me some wonderful pages several years ago, which have been
extremely valuable to me as I've assembled my Presto 6N record cutting
rig. With his blessings, I am posting scans of these pages here.

Many of them are useful even if you are using a non-Presto setup.

His article, "How Phonograph Records Work--For Dummies." This is as
elemental a breakdown of the process as I've ever read:

Alan_Graves_Phonographs_for_dummies.pdf

Alan's special recipe for making a hot stylus holder for a Presto 1C or 1D
cutterhead, which makes wiring in your new stylus a snap. Also contains a
swarf jar/vacuum model:

Alan_Graves_Hot_Stylus.pdf

How to replace the feed blade for a Presto 6N or a Presto 8N:

Alan_Graves_Presto-feed-blade-replacement.jpg

Removing the Presto 6N or 8N motor pulley:

Alan_Graves_Removing-Presto-Motor-Pulley.jpg

Comparison of Presto 6D and 6N. Both Presto's literature and Alan's photos
of the differences in the feed screws:

Alan_Graves_Presto_6D_v_6N.pdf

Enjoy!

[EDIT, September 15, 2017: I uploaded the documents directly into this thread, as a best-practice. Whenever possible, the information on this site should be directly uploaded so the site can be a self-contained reference. Hell for this site is dead links.]

[Steve E.]

Again, how to replace the feed blade for a Presto 6N or a Presto 8N:

Alan_Graves_Presto-feed-blade-replacement.jpg

[Steve E.]

Again, removing the Presto 6N or 8N motor pulley:

(EDIT: There's a related diagram down the page which contains additional info on a 45 mod).

Also....different 6N pulleys take different screws! I have two, and they are not the same.

Alan_Graves_Removing-Presto-Motor-Pulley.jpg

[tragwag]

this is excellent, thanks al and steve!

[Steve E.]

A 78 to 45 rpm mod for 6N or 8N:

Alan_Graves_78-to-45-mod.jpg

[Steve E.]

And, if you remachine the shaft pulley for 45, you will need to modify the puck:

Alan_Graves_45_puck_mod.jpg

[Steve E.]

Otherwise, the 45 adapter that allows you to retain all three speeds for the 6N (and, I guess, 8N):

Alan_Graves_45_adapter.jpg

[Steve E.]

Alan explained this to me as:

"A modification I made for a [Presto] 8D to allow more lines per inch for microgroove."

Alan_Graves_Presto_8D_pulley-tree.jpg

[Steve E.]

Alan sent those 4 pages to me in February, and I didn't look closely enough to realize I didn't already have them scanned and posted. Valuable stuff!! thank you so much, Alan!

[Steve E.]

And another one:

Alan: "These are the details of building a vacuum table on record lathes.
This will not work for Presto 6N or 8N’s, but would work for any type of
lathe that does NOT engage with the turntable. It would even work for the
K series or under table groove systems."

The purpose of this is to use vacuum to hold records flat.

"You need a “tee” connection on the vacuum pump to suck both from the
center of the turntable AND the swarf pickup. The vacuum on the turntable
will hold any blank flat and firm, even without the center hole. It is
amazing how little vacuum it takes. This might be especially useful to those
who are using picnic plates or other media – so they don’t have to tape
them down."

Alan_Graves_Vacuum_Hold_Down.pdf

[Steve E.]

Again, Alan's special recipe for making a hot stylus holder for a Presto 1C or 1D
cutterhead, which makes wiring in your new stylus a snap. Also contains a
swarf jar/vacuum model:


Alan_Graves_Hot_Stylus.pdf