improved results / 16 tons / dictaphone

[THEVICTROLAGUY]

this dictaphone has proved to be a very useful tool, i can do all of my experiments on the dictaphone and then apply it to the cylinder phonograph. the technology for both machines is identical, vertical cur recording with a sapphire cup tipped rod glued directly to a moving diaphragm, extremely crude but surprisingly efficient considering this is a purely mechanical recording. the driver is electric but it is producing sound waves acting on the diaphragm, not the stylus itself.

[Gridlock]

Can you use plumbing black pvc as blank? Somtetimes called ABS

[THEVICTROLAGUY]

no, plastics of any kind are too hard to cut with the recording stylus, also the cylinders have a tapered core to prevent slipping on the mandrel. the recording blanks are made of aluminum soap, to erase the cylinder it is shaved on an original cylinder shaver, basically a small lathe with a sapphire blade. you can record on phonograph cylinders but there is no modern replacement for the original soap based recording blanks.