The Secret Society of Lathe Trolls

I have the 74000 electronic cylinder recorder. It is very temperamental. At the moment, it won't cut a groove. But it's a bit cold now to be fooling with cutting wax. Lacking a supply of replacement parts, this antique office equipment is perfect for the clever tinkerer.

Shawn Borri... He might have drifted to New York State. I managed to 'win' a couple of his blanks on ebay. His blanks are white wax (ceresin). Quite competent. It's like making records on the late 1890-style wax, so an instructive activity. fer sure. Molds: I used an ordinary polycarbonate candle mo...

I have purchased blanks from Paul Morris 'accross the pond', ie., UK. They are excellent, but they are brown wax and therefore not acceptable for cutting at 200 TPI (four minute). I have made my own blanks also. I used a formula I extrapolated from a variety of sources. The basic idea is that you us...

Yo, once again, cuttercollector has 'bashed the nail on the crumpet'. I'm not trying to play my negatives because they are silicone rubber, and to be used for the plastic pouring process, they must retain their structural integrity, including the raised 'post' that forms the center hole. The materia...

Hey gang... I've been busy with a show, and then I got distracted scratch building a tube amp to drive some of these old crystal and magnetic heads (another story entirely). But I wanted to share my results with the plastic duplication process. (Some details in the 'handcrankers' area.) I am hereby ...

Well, I've got a handle on how this works now. Moisture control is one key, meticulousness in every other detail another. I am not quite there yet, and my mold is very funky now. But I get the idea. The photos are at: https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/beck2/shared/plastic_plating_process/ The photos are 4 m...

All readers: here's the URL to a sound clip from my first attempt. https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/beck2/shared/task_4_plate_1_clip.mp3 2nd attempt was pretty much botched, but I did get a leveler copy by taking pains to flatten the mold. Still many bubbles. I have now figured out that moisture is the pro...

Jay, setting up another casting as I write this. (Spring break at University of Illinois!) To bide the time, (all 16 hours...maybe not!) I'll promptly tackle your suggestions and comments. -By all means, you should try this. A knowledge base should be developed. -The mold release recommended by Smoo...

[EDIT: Introduction by Steve E.-- It is my understanding that kd88 is referring to this article: (dead version: http://gadgets.qj.net/How-to-Pirate-a-Vinyl-Record/pg/49/aid/39381) EDIT, December 2010, RESTORED LINKS: http://mikesenese.com/DOIT/2010/07/how-vinyl-records-are-made-and-how-to-pirate-a-v...

I been busy with a show, so slow to get back to this glorious topic. I saw the Milton Cross film. That's what gave me the idea about using the wax instead of a lacquer. I completely agree about the plating process being not really suited for a basement operation. This is a high current, high voltage...

Edison...studio recorders were made many different ways, some with compound diaphragms (i.e. more than one material used for the same vibrating element), usually the diaphragm assembly rode on circular knife edges machined into the housing, and not a rubber gasket like the home setup, and the stylu...

Yes, well I've been working on this for several years now. I began by learning to use the Edison equipment. (Standard D, the simple 1905 recorder.) Not only all acoustic, but no electricity. Can work quite well, but temperature of medium and equipment is important. Teaches you to speak the language ...

Yeah, seeing this Presto mod really gets me to thinking... Congratulations on a beautiful, well done, and truly inspirational modification. Flo, I think we need to re-invent the old Edison Prize to show our esteem. My colleagues at the University of Illinois, who laugh at me when I talk about making...

OK, mine came a couple days back. The package was very enjoyable and rich, despite the language barrier. (I'm not a Japanese speaker/reader!) But during the course of assembly, I found that the rubberbands provided were too slack. I swapped out these of some tighter bands (left over from free flight...

I also am cutting with the 6N and the 1D cutter. The transco styli fit this cutter. Also, I was lucky enough to acquire a Fairchild head and a stylus heater. Dis-assembly of the heater reveals a simple transformer (AC, with rheostat and meter). This would not be hard to duplicate. You're heating up ...