Lead in/lead out modification

[thetoneloft]

Hey everyone,

Any tips or tricks on how to add lead in/lead out capability to a lathe that otherwise doesn't have the capability?

Thanks!

[grooveguy]

Hi, and thanks for the question.

I'm surprised that no one has made a reply yet, so let me jump in here. My first 'lathe' was a Recordio-type of machine, with no provision for lead-in/-out. However, in that case it was possible to bend the spring-steel blade that followed the leadscrew so that the cutter arm could be moved by hand. Very dicey and sometimes would fall into the wrong thread on the screw and overcut part of the previous recording.

A friend had a very old Presto overhead that didn't have a crank either. We removed the gear that drove the leadscrew and put a pulley on the other end, where a crank usually is. Then belted a small DC motor to that pulley through some old gear reduction assembly off a military radio. Using a Lionel model train transformer, we could set the lpi pitch at anything from about 6 lines per inch (for lead-out) to about 200 lpi for microgroove. We mounted the motor on a bracket that hung off the back of the overhead, and during quiet grooves you could hear it whine.

Show us a picture of your lathe and maybe we can figure something out.

[SueDenim]

Hi,

A quick question for clarification and continuing on from what GrooveGuy asked...
Which make/model of lathe are we talking about?

[thetoneloft]

Thanks for the reply guys, it's good to know there is hope. The late is an RCA Instantaneous Recorder, I haven't really been able to find anything about it anywhere. It works great though. Lead in and lead out would be ideal.

[thetoneloft]

RCA Instantaneous Recorder.jpg

Here is the lathe.