tips on a steady turning table for a diy lathe project

This is where record cutters raise questions about cutting, and trade wisdom and experiment results. We love Scully, Neumann, Presto, & Rek-O-Kut lathes and Wilcox-Gay Recordios (among others). We are excited by the various modern pro and semi-pro systems, too, in production and development. We use strange, extinct disc-based dictation machines. And other stuff, too.

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drywud
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tips on a steady turning table for a diy lathe project

Post: # 46399Unread post drywud
Mon Mar 13, 2017 11:37 am

Hi everybody,

I am trying to build a DIY lathe. I made some experiments, thanks to the information I could find on this blog. I managed to emboss some audio on a cd. However I have still a lot of improvment to make. I still have to find a way to make the arm move regurlarly toward the center of the cd, until now I have been moving it by hand.

But first I would like to build a turning table with variable speed. I found out that using a regular turntable, the speed is not steady, it varies when you press the embossing end onto it.

So I come towards you for advice about what motor and device I should use for this. I tried to use a motor from a reel to reel machine with a variator from a halogen lamp but it didn't work, the motor just has one speed.

Do you have any tip ? or maybe could you redirect me toward a post where this issue has been evoked ?

thank you

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concretecowboy71
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Re: tips on a steady turning table for a diy lathe project

Post: # 46411Unread post concretecowboy71
Tue Mar 14, 2017 11:52 am

Look into old rim drive turntables. Rekokut made quite a few. They have the torque needed to maintain speed while pressure is applied to the cutting/embossing substrate. There is a certain degree of rumble that you will get however.
Cutting Masters in Bristol,Virginia, USA
Well Made Music / Gotta Groove Records

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fredbissnette
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Re: tips on a steady turning table for a diy lathe project

Post: # 46412Unread post fredbissnette
Tue Mar 14, 2017 1:11 pm

i got some mccurdy ch 12 broadcast decks and they pull like trucks there is a tiny amount of motor noise but they are really well built and have great motor isolation
Instagram @styluspressurerecords

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grooveguy
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Re: tips on a steady turning table for a diy lathe project

Post: # 46462Unread post grooveguy
Tue Mar 21, 2017 11:16 pm

Hey, I'm making something similar and am going to belt-drive a table with a stepper motor. I know, 'horrors, not a stepper,' but I found a motor driver that delivers pretty much a sine wave drive to the windings, which greatly reduces the cogging and motor noise. It's several times the price of an eBay/Chinese stepper driver, but if it works it'll be worth it. It's the R-213 from:
http://www.testra.com.
If you are smart and know how to program an Arduino, you could probably do the same a lot cheaper. Beyond me though. Found a source for welded polyurethane belting, too:
http://ebelting.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=10_21
I'm using 1/2" wide, 1/32" thick. You give them the total length (measure a string wrapped around the belt path), and they whip one out for you. Pretty reasonaable. They have round O-ring material too, so if you have an old Universal lathe, they're your guy.

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