Hey!
Saphiere and acrylic cuts and sound very nice.
Yesterday I got Plexiglass XT sheet cut into disks. Went to the laser cutting shop and they did it in no time. I made first try of 20 disks of 7 inch. The price for cutting was 0.3 euro for one disk. And I should say nothing wrapped all disks are ideal with protective masks. 5 euros was for CAM programming.
Tried with the CNC - this depends a lot on machine and specs, but it takes more time, not every machine can cut acrylic because of a liquit or compressed air cooling of a special drill... costs more.
To Fraggle:
yep that quite cheap - that's only for cutting out the center hole and the disk. Exatly it is 0.32 euro cents. It looks very nice when cutted with laser, the edges looks like polished a little. I got better results as I expected. Using used stylus for tests and trying to get along with Audax h4 head but it seems like I should search for other head a better one of course. Then I will put in a new stylus and will see how long will it last.
To Carter:
sorry for misunderstanding but what exactly is the problem? Are the sheets warped or they cannot cut that thick sheet to the discs? When I watched my discs cutted with laser - there is not even a thing that can lead to any deformation because of a technology...
yep that quite cheap - that's only for cutting out the center hole and the disk. Exatly it is 0.32 euro cents. It looks very nice when cutted with laser, the edges looks like polished a little. I got better results as I expected. Using used stylus for tests and trying to get along with Audax h4 head but it seems like I should search for other head a better one of course. Then I will put in a new stylus and will see how long will it last.
To Carter:
sorry for misunderstanding but what exactly is the problem? Are the sheets warped or they cannot cut that thick sheet to the discs? When I watched my discs cutted with laser - there is not even a thing that can lead to any deformation because of a technology...
And I can add that storage of plastics must taken care of.
One company that I get all plastics from have a lot of space for storage and I always get plastic as it should be.
went to other ones that quoted cheaper acrylic but got the sheet I saw that it is not straight as should be...
Of course a lot depends on manufacturer. Like PC from Bayer - they have best quality for their products, the same I can say for Plexiglas.
One company that I get all plastics from have a lot of space for storage and I always get plastic as it should be.
went to other ones that quoted cheaper acrylic but got the sheet I saw that it is not straight as should be...
Of course a lot depends on manufacturer. Like PC from Bayer - they have best quality for their products, the same I can say for Plexiglas.
Hey Guys
If you take a look at a standard record you will see that the centre is always thicker
Also there is a specific shape on the face of the record that thins out ever so little towards the outer perimeter and than thickens up again about 1/3rd of the way all the way out to the edge and than thickens up to the starting groove bead
The whole idea is to make sure that the tension of the PVC pressed record is shared along the surface in such a way so as to keep the record flat
So If one is getting a flat even thickness of any material it will wrap twist and do whetever as if it is flat to start off with the only thing which will keep it flat its its thickness
Added to that is the fact that if it is cut with a laser even though it is done quite fast the heating of the cut edges will set up local stress spots as well as relieve some other areas of inherent stress in there from the start
So the simple way of seeing this is If your cut sheets are flat when you get them well thats great but they will not stay flat as a change in temperature humidity as well as other enviromental conditions will affect the shape of the material
If you are getting extruded or callandered material it will be worse
If you are getting cast material it would be best
Cast material would have the minimum inherent stress with the other two the maximum
Just a little bit of information on the matter that has not been addressed so far
Cheers
If you take a look at a standard record you will see that the centre is always thicker
Also there is a specific shape on the face of the record that thins out ever so little towards the outer perimeter and than thickens up again about 1/3rd of the way all the way out to the edge and than thickens up to the starting groove bead
The whole idea is to make sure that the tension of the PVC pressed record is shared along the surface in such a way so as to keep the record flat
So If one is getting a flat even thickness of any material it will wrap twist and do whetever as if it is flat to start off with the only thing which will keep it flat its its thickness
Added to that is the fact that if it is cut with a laser even though it is done quite fast the heating of the cut edges will set up local stress spots as well as relieve some other areas of inherent stress in there from the start
So the simple way of seeing this is If your cut sheets are flat when you get them well thats great but they will not stay flat as a change in temperature humidity as well as other enviromental conditions will affect the shape of the material
If you are getting extruded or callandered material it will be worse
If you are getting cast material it would be best
Cast material would have the minimum inherent stress with the other two the maximum
Just a little bit of information on the matter that has not been addressed so far
Cheers
Chris
Hey Mossboss,
some of the 1930s lacquers would warp, even if they were on aluminium base. So the lacquer and cutting lathe manufacturer M.S.S. used a very slight hollow on the turntable, which meant that the central nut (clamp) would press the lacquer in contact with the platter. Cecil Watts knew what he was doing! And he was supplying the BBC.
Of course glass-base lacquers did not have that problem, but they might shatter on an M.M.S. lathe!
All best,
some of the 1930s lacquers would warp, even if they were on aluminium base. So the lacquer and cutting lathe manufacturer M.S.S. used a very slight hollow on the turntable, which meant that the central nut (clamp) would press the lacquer in contact with the platter. Cecil Watts knew what he was doing! And he was supplying the BBC.
Of course glass-base lacquers did not have that problem, but they might shatter on an M.M.S. lathe!
All best,
Back to cutting Acrylic with sapphire stylus....
I thought about this process and read from other topic about sapphire life (as it was stated it lasts about 20 hours on laquer) and so went to a conclusion that buying diamond from Shank and using pressed records that can be ordered on the other topic is better than this... If using sapphire and acrylic you will have to buy 5 styluses and thats more than buy one diamond that can last for 150 hours....
What all of you think about it? I am right or not?
I thought about this process and read from other topic about sapphire life (as it was stated it lasts about 20 hours on laquer) and so went to a conclusion that buying diamond from Shank and using pressed records that can be ordered on the other topic is better than this... If using sapphire and acrylic you will have to buy 5 styluses and thats more than buy one diamond that can last for 150 hours....
What all of you think about it? I am right or not?
Hey Mossboss,
this about wax really belongs to another thread. Yes, we have worked a bit with waxes, but there is no easy way to explain how to do it. On the other thread, Angus McCarthy identifed a good source:
http://members.tripod.com/edison_1/id14.htm
- and the constituents are good and relevant. However, you really need to be a chemist and dare heat nasty substance that remind you of hot cooking oil and mix other liquids into that. This was not brought out in the article, although they do mention that it is a soap, and it is, only it is not water-soluble. So, you have to use alkaline and oleic acids. Uggh! The article by Leah S. Burt, "Chemical Technology in the Edison Recording Laboratory", Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, Vol. 25, Number 10/11, pp. 712-717 gives an example of how to use the chemicals in practice, as well as a recipe.
I should note that waxes are very expensive, and types that were fairly cheap 100 years ago are now very expensive. They used to be byproducts of mining and chemical manufacture that does not exist anymore, for instance mining the huge German deposits of lignite (sometimes called brown coal), which was used extensively in the chemical industry, and in the German Democratic Republic to the very end. That gave montan wax, which is a really good component.
If the alkaline squirts into my face I shall be known as Whitebeard, if any is left!
this about wax really belongs to another thread. Yes, we have worked a bit with waxes, but there is no easy way to explain how to do it. On the other thread, Angus McCarthy identifed a good source:
http://members.tripod.com/edison_1/id14.htm
- and the constituents are good and relevant. However, you really need to be a chemist and dare heat nasty substance that remind you of hot cooking oil and mix other liquids into that. This was not brought out in the article, although they do mention that it is a soap, and it is, only it is not water-soluble. So, you have to use alkaline and oleic acids. Uggh! The article by Leah S. Burt, "Chemical Technology in the Edison Recording Laboratory", Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, Vol. 25, Number 10/11, pp. 712-717 gives an example of how to use the chemicals in practice, as well as a recipe.
I should note that waxes are very expensive, and types that were fairly cheap 100 years ago are now very expensive. They used to be byproducts of mining and chemical manufacture that does not exist anymore, for instance mining the huge German deposits of lignite (sometimes called brown coal), which was used extensively in the chemical industry, and in the German Democratic Republic to the very end. That gave montan wax, which is a really good component.
If the alkaline squirts into my face I shall be known as Whitebeard, if any is left!
JayDC wrote:do you need to heat the diamond stylus to cut these plastics?
Hi Jay,
ask here: https://lathetrolls.com/viewtopic.php?t=2193&mforum=lathetrolls
Today I got in a little trouble. I took out the head from suspension to make a little tune, putted it back firmly with inserted sapphire stylus, aligned lateral position just like every time I do something like this.
Tried to cut the acrylic and after 1 spin around and stylus began jump a little. Lifted up then again gently down and after a spin or two got jumping again. Looked after every angle and seems ok, maybe in the work room got a little hotter, but I don't think is a problem.
Someones got this problem?
Tried to cut the acrylic and after 1 spin around and stylus began jump a little. Lifted up then again gently down and after a spin or two got jumping again. Looked after every angle and seems ok, maybe in the work room got a little hotter, but I don't think is a problem.
Someones got this problem?
My tonearm drifted in towards the platter one time and was blocking the travel of my suspension box because it was hitting the cable in back. When the tonearm contacted the cable the cutterhead appeard to be jumping up and down. It was because the half nut was being restricted from moving along the leadscrew as normal and since the screw was still turning had nowhere else to go but up and down. I'm sure I caused some minor damage to the halfnut. It works fine. I'll never make that mistake again. I'm sure it was no worse than trying to move the carriage with the lever in the forward position. You might want to be sure that your tonearm is always out of the way before you start cutting. That's what I do now. This was the biggest rookie mistake I've ever made.
Last edited by opcode66 on Wed Feb 09, 2011 12:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Groove Graphics, VMS Halfnuts, MIDI Automation, Professional Stereo Feedback Cutterheads, and Pesto 1-D Cutterhead Clones
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Groove Graphics, VMS Halfnuts, MIDI Automation, Professional Stereo Feedback Cutterheads, and Pesto 1-D Cutterhead Clones
Cutterhead Repair: Recoiling, Cleaning, Cloning of Screws, Dampers & More
http://mantra.audio
