The Secret Society of Lathe Trolls

Howdy: As a part time hobby/project, I have been restoring an old Rek-o-Kut Imperial. The rubber rollers have been redone by Terry's Rubber Rollers and the machine has been stripped and lubricated. The platter currently is running at about 45.2 rpm. I tried blending a heavier oil into the spindle we...

PM sent.

To be clear, you are not manufacturing a vinyl. You are creating a lathe cut disc. There are many here that do that. It is a tough business model to create and and should in no way be confused with a professionally cut and pressed vinyl record. I have heard some very good lathe cut records, but it i...

If we only cut analog masters, we would be out of business! Personally I do not know many artists with the monetary resources to do an all analog project. I think we are well past the days of either/or...it is a digital world. You work with it or you get left behind. It really boils down to how good...

A Neumann or Scully with proper head is the only way to go if you want professional level cutting. Over the last 8 years I have heard a lot of people say they were going to build a "new" lathe that would perform the same way. Even had engineers visit my shop saying they would do this. Never happened.

I have one of those! Glad to have it!

You can cut masters on a Scully also. It also depends on what your clients want. I can cut a master on a Presto, but it is Mono and is not the same sound quality as a Neumann or Scully. Until the innovators here come up with a head and lathe that match the quality of those machines, you will have to...

PM'd you.

Several plating shops and cutters seem to prefer them. I like them when I can use them. To me they seem a bit "softer"and the grooves tend to look cleaner under the scope.

I just cannot get them fast enough.

Always been a pain to get these in a quantity that I need. No way these come from Apollo. Different color, smell and the cut totally different.

I have contacted him and he got right back to me. Steve, I agree with your observations. For better or worse, my mother used to choose shoe repair guys on the basis of how much or little English they choose to speak. Her rationale was that the "old country" guys were much better at their craft!

Great! Thanks!

Has anybody used this service recently? The website is pretty outdated looking and I don't want to send off some rollers and never see them again. Will try the email address, but thought I would ask in case anybody had some feedback.

I have not been with this machine when it has happened, but both my other cutters had an experience where when they pushed "spiral", the carriage moved slow or not at all, they both feel the half nut was engaged and not slipping. I have cleaned and tightend the belts. My one cutter said there was no...

Thanks Paul! Differential is a good word for that. Good info.

Anybody know what this is called? I have been through the manual and see parts labeled on it, but not the whole assembly itself. [url=https://flic.kr/p/GmSoFr] https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1492/26490432535_e659a28a09_b.jpg [url=https://flic.kr/p/GdHm9W] https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1556/26398136...

Wow! That video is great! Some awesome old gear.

After reading a bio of Alan Lomax and of other historic recording sessions, I have started to wonder if anybody has ever done any research into what disc recording machines were used. Does anybody have ideas, photos or any info on pre 1945 disc recorders used for professional recording?

The question makes no sense at all. Other lathes cut material like metal that does not deviate from a norm. The lacquers that we cut on vary in thickness and flatness all of the time. A dashpot is used to try and compensate for some of the inconsistencies but we see deviation from lacquer to lacquer...

Are you just putting up any mastering studio or ones that also deal with a lathe and cutting masters for the vinyl record industry?