The Secret Society of Lathe Trolls

Hi All, For the purposes of making a lathe for 7" records, how much travel does the cutting head need? I looked at the RIAA specification and it says : Margin Diameter, the outer set-down limit of reproducing stylus Diameter 6 25/32" (radius of 86mm) Stopping Groove, Closed Concentric Circle Diamete...

Hi Dan, Some interesting ideas. I think air bearing spindles are out. I made one and it is *noisy*. I think ball screws are out for the same reason. I like the idea of laser heating... that definitely could work and would be very doable. You can get cheap 15W lasers that burn wood. The question is, ...

Hi All,

I'm visiting Munich at the end of the month.

Does anyone know if there are any Neumann VMS70's in museums there (or elsewhere in Germany) ?

You'd think that if they'd be in museums anywhere it'd be in Germany.

Cheers,

Wilson.

Er...no. I'm not the expert. That's what " I am constantly surprised " means. It means that things are done in a way for record lathes that surprises me. My background is in machining of large metal parts. I am used to the physics of machinery designed for high cutting forces. As the cutting forces ...

Thank you, that is a very generous offer but for the moment I was just interested in the type of bearing. I would have thought any normal bearing would be avoided due to ball / roller noise. TBF I am constantly surprised by a great deal of things! One imagines that there are two bearings? One for ax...

Hi All, Does anyone know how Neumann constructed the spindle bearing for the platter? I saw something on someones site (forget who) and it seemed to be a high accuracy, plain oil lubricated bearing. I get how that works but not how it could be driven from below like on a VMS. Or VMS's work a totally...

Apparently its a 1mm pitch buttress thread. Not sure about the diameter. Which makes sense. It only has to ever drive in one direction and the half nut engages and disengages easily with the sloping sides of the screw. I did wonder how a normal acme half nut could be engaged without damage when a sy...

Be careful trying to make a leadscrew. The originals are likely not cut but either rolled or rolled and ground. In either case the threads will be lapped until identical to a master screw. I don't know how Neumann did it but these master screws are typically kept in temperature controlled oil baths....

Hi All, Please forgive me if my part nomenclature is off (I can't find a parts manual online for Neumann VMS machines). Can anyone tell me how the slide mechanism works? I assumed it was a plain dovetail machine slide but I saw a video of a guy with one & he just pushed it lightly and it coasted off...

Buy Helium for TIG (HELI_ARC) welding. It is five 9s dry (for the obvious reason that water f**ks with making a good weld). It will not corrode any metal parts as it is used in hideously expensive metal welding equipment and the gas supplier does not want a queue of enraged welders at his door. Prob...

Thanks Mark,

I found this which was illuminating...

https://www.alchemymastering.com/half-speed-vinyl-mastering

It appears there are advantages and disadvantages to different speeds although the reasons are as you explained them and not as I thought !

Cheers,

Wilson.

Maybe.

There's a studio in Ireland that I sent a couple to a fortnight ago but I know they're in the middle of moving and I've not heard back from them yet.

I'm happy to send you a couple.

PM me.

Cheers,

Wilson.

I come from a metal turning background. If you're cutting metal on a lathe there is usually a sweet spot speed for a particular metal with a particular amount of tool infeed. Modern CNC lathes speed the job up as the diameter reduces to stay on this optimised "surface speed". As cutting records is a...

Sorry Mark,

I didn't mean to take umbrage. I value your advice, deeply.

I learned long ago to heed the advice of experts.

I apologise if my tone came over as high handed.

Cheers,

Wilson.

My needle does have adequate back angles. I have been cutting metal on lathes for 20 years. I may not know about records but I know about chip formation, screw cutting and rake angles :) What I do not have is a tip radius or burnishing facets. I am working on a new rotating fixture that will produce...

Hi Mark, I used this drawing: http://www.deepgroovesmastering.com/images/trolls/stylus_cross_section.jpg Basically the front face is 90 degrees. Its cut on a 1200 grit diamond wheel so its a high (if not "mirror") polish. I agree that HSS takes a better edge. I didn't have any HHS rod at 1/16" diame...

Just tungsten carbide.

I could do sapphire as well but I don't know where to get the blanks.

I only have a crappy out of focus photo...

Hi All, Long story short... I'm a tool maker (for a hobby). I like making small precise things and buying old precise machines. I was approached by an Italian guy who asked me to make some record cutting needles in tungsten carbide for him. Right up my street. Anyway, he has pulled apart his machine...

Hi All, My name is Wilson Logan. I was contacted a while ago by an Italian chap who asked me if I could make record cutting needles. I make tungsten carbide Drag Engraving cutters and that's how he found me. I am working from a 80 year old patent drawing. http://www.wilsonlogan.com/images/record-cut...