Welcome, Newbies! Say Hi in this thread!

[Umbriaco]

Hi folks,

Dominick from NYC here.

[Bryans12v]

Hello Everyone! I see a lot of guys from the NY/NJ area here. That's great! I'm in the Hudson Valley as well in the Town of Wallkill. Anywhoo..

I'm here because I recently (3 days ago) came across a really cool vintage Rek-o-kut Imperial Lathe in decent shape for its age. Ill be honest, I know absolutley nothing of this craft or record lathes in general. Looks to be quite a lot of lathe trolls and info around these parts though which is awesome!

About me. I'm a 40yrd dad of two. The loves of my life are now 9 and 2. Time really does fly. I enjoy restoring vintage stereo equipment and have been doing so for the past 7 years or so with most of my free time. I really enjoy the 50s, 60s and 70s era stuff and try to stick to this era. I have a little background in electronics and physics but nothing advanced. I know enough to get myself into trouble and than learn how to get myself out of it.

About the machine. Please excuse me if my terminology is a little off, I'm new to this. It seems to be close to the R-8A amplifier. Some searches pull up similar amp/heads but I see some that have a fuse for the motor which mine doesn't have. Just found a schematic here (thanks Bill!) And it seems close enough for me to use. The amp works, which is great!

The playback arm seems to be a model 160 (Micropoise?) Mono arm.

The arm on this machine is the M-12S and the only leadscrew that came with it is a 120lpi.

The head is an Audax R-56, seems to be a 8 ohm model. DC resistance on it is 3 ohms however and its connected to the 3 ohm tap on the back of the amplifier. The unit came with what appear to be 3 diamond? Cutting tips.

I've spent a day cleaning it up, getting the amp functional and bringing it up slowly with the variac. It was a success! I was also able to get some playback action using an old beat-up lp. It sounds, OK at best. Still have to fully go through the amp and check for drifted parts, etc. I found the rubber 78 roller to have a flat spot from sitting on the motor shaft in the same spot for probably 40 years. I took it off and did a few soaking/spinning sessions. After about 7 hour long soaks followed by 30 mins of spinning, it has resolved itself and is now spinning a LOT more smoothly. I cleaned the platter spindle and bearing and lubed it up, it spinnes forever, effortlessly.

This is about where my knowledge of these stops. Im clueless as to how to set it up for cutting. I did power the head with an 8ohm stereo receiver to see if I got any action out of an inserted cutting tip. I used very low power with 100hz and 15khz filter applied. I felt it tingling but nothing major, hoping it's OK.

So yeah, I'm here to learn from the collective and hopefully be able to cut a record someday. It will prob be of me jamming on the guitar and my son playing the drums to, most likely, a white stripes tune. Were both big fans!

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[Umbriaco]

Delta 30.jpg

Here's the setup I used back in 73-75
Scully / Westrex 3D - Westrex amp
Ampex 300 transport with advance head
Ampex 351 electronics for playback to cutter head
Lang LTP-1A electronics for advance head
a pair of Pultec EQP1A
Electrodyne CA700 limiter
Thorens TD 125 w/ SME3012 / Shure V15 Type III / Shure SM20 for disc playback
McIntosh 2105 amp
Altec 604E monitors

[captain]

Hi everyone

New here although some of our paths have crossed, but hi all the same.

I am Tom, but pick captain as a username in forums due an old nickname that stock when I roadied for bands in the 80s and 90s.

From the UK, speak English and German and run a small pressing plant in Bucks with a VMS-70 close to competition through the help of one of the members on these shores.

Thought I join to learn and read, I enjoy the wealth of knowledge yall have on a wide variety of subjects.

Thanks for having me
capt.

[dvrm15]

Hello everyone,

I'm Rob!

I am very happy to be apart of this forum and thank you to the Admins for accepting my membership. I have been a complete nut over analog tape recording since May 2006 when I was attending Berklee College of Music in Boston. Since then, record cutters have passed through my collection but never really got into it.

Fast forward to 2020... I was given an opportunity to buy a Presto K8 record cutter from the grandson of the original owner and this unit has been in a closet unused since 1970. I will be reading some related topics on this forum regarding this unit and hope I can get her up and running.

I look forward to reading and learning about these old Presto machines and more.

Rob

[jjjj]

Hey everyone! I'm a graduate student studying music in Vancouver BC, my focus is on the historical relationship between music and science and wish to present my thesis project on a direct metal master. No questions as of yet but I'm sure I'll be reaching out in the forum soon, thanks!

[fragor]

Hello!
My name is Francesco and I live in Italy (near Florence). I'm a web developer and I love diy and to experiment with Arduino, Raspberry and electronic stuff.
I love music and vinyl records too. So I'm here to learn from the masters and start to build my first record lathe.
Thanks in advance (and sorry for my "Italian-style" english)

[beyond77]

Hello,

My name is Dahv, from the southwestern U.S. I have been collecting/archiving records for 27 years with close to 10,000 albums, periodically releasing my own music on vinyl through small labels every few years since the mid 90's. I started working live sound for an audio/visual company in 1997 after high school, which led me to a gig at a professional analog recording studio in 1999 ( 24 track Otari and pro tools in the B room) where I worked for 4 years . I started investing more seriously in my own personal studio around 2001. Its currently a hybrid studio with a modified 32 channel soundcraft ghost mixer and other outboard gear Ive picked up over the years. In the last 10 years Ive become more proficient in mastering, for various formats. I'm definitely not an electrical engineer by any stretch, but I find myself more comfortable making small repairs on equipment, tinkering with DIY projects, and reading some very basic schematics . I would love to start learning more about what it will take, both in capitol and sweat equity, to get to a point where I am cutting hi fidelity records .I'm interested in investing in a lathe at some point. It would be an ideal step forward for my own small label and its collaborators to have a consistent and frequent output of small run vinyl. Thanks!

[VinylFiend]

Hi all. Just purchased a Vanrock E101. Realising the dream of cutting my own records with a view to doing very small demo runs eventually. A lot of time and patience required, eager to learn and 'master' (i.e get semi-decent) at the craft. Been watching this forum for years with starry eyes. I'm in Australia, big shout out to the bloke i bought it from and kept the machine in immaculate condition - who i know frequents this forum. Looking forward to the journey!

[burgundio]

I live in Tuscany Italy and teach history of jazz and popular music. In Siena I am in charge of the Jazz Archive, the most relevant specialized archive in Italy. I collect sound recordings with wide interests (history of phonography, italian traditional and eastern mediterranean music, jazz, and Pisan opera singer Titta Ruffo). I am looking forward to learn more.
Francesco

[computronic2040]

Hi all, Justin from SF. Became interested in a DIY lathe after stumbling upon some of the work documented by a, uh, prolific lathe trolls member now banned. I am hobby machinist type, with a small shop. Just moved over to CNC from manual machining. Repair and build audio stuff. Know enough about electronics & audio to know that I don't know much, so looking forward to gleaning knowledge.
-Justin

[Jubelum]

Hi there! My name is Michael Mittelsdorf and I joined this forum to find the best information to restore my newly acquired Meissner 1065 Phono-Recorder. I acquired it in a storage unit auction and it was an unknown case in a photo... What a gem! all the tubes work and the record cartridges has a cutting needle in it... I presume the crystal reproducer cartridge needs restoration or replacement but I am looking forward to putting this little beauty into shape... Thanks Steve E for letting me in!

[Metzwax]

Hello all,

My name is Aaron Metzdorf. Working musician and optician by trade. 26 year old lover of noise, especially the noises captured on those magic discs of pvc! Through the year I've put together an 8 track 1/2" tape studio in my home and want to expand that setup with a lathe. Recently had some 10" cuts made for a band by Rob at Little Elephant in Ohio (not sure if he's a member here, I'd assume so) and simultaneously have been getting into bootleg records (Ken and dub, TAKRL, rubber dubber, etc) and the work of Norman Granz, Alan Lomax, and Nesuhi Ertegun. I've listened to, been on, and now I wanna make records! Looking forward to learning all I can. Any literature recommendations are appreciated. And thank you Steve for the add!

[raretone]

Hi everyone,

Not completely new to cutting but I haven't had a lathe for 10 years or more and I'm looking to get back into it. Currently running my hybrid mastering studio with heavy emphasis on vintage and modern vintage-remake analogue equipment for the actual sound processing.

[waxprophecies]

Greetings Trolls!
Just here to pick up some nuggets of that wax knowledge! I am new to the lathe as a concept. Complete bewildered fool. So far so so good!

[Coccolino]

Hi Guys !!!! I'm new here and hope to find a VinylCutter to buy soon !!!!!

[reservox]

Hi, I'm Sergio from Spain, I am new to the forum and my intention is to be able to make my own vinyl recorder, so I have a lot of learn !!!
Thanks

[Johnny Beluga]

Hi!

Johnny from France here to learn and share.

[longerplayer]

Hi folks.... just bought a Presto 8-K ( serial # 2460) ... hoping to get it back up to working order.....lots to learn... starting with that serial number!

[Nickelmax]

Hi guys

I am Max from Austria
I m a learned chemical engineer, so i hope i can help with some question in this forum. I started a new job recently at a small vinyl record company and i was given the galvanization laboratory. I try to fit in the standard process up to now and simultaneously try to get new information on how to improve the process. Hope to spend some time here although i have a Quiet stressfull week (but who doesnt ^^). And last but not least: Nice to be here. Remembers to good old times where you had most of your konvos in forums like this.
Cheers
Nickelmax