Looking for VR T560 or similar in USA

[plates]

Hello fellow trolls. Long time lurker, recently registered, and looking for my first lathe.

I have my eyes on the VinylRecorder T560 but open to others. I am looking for something that is fully working, not a parts/project lathe.

Ideally would like to find something in the Midwest area so I could drive and pick up, but willing to hear about any lathes in the US for sale.

[soeffingodly]

Hit up Mike at lathecuts at yahoo dawt com

[plates]

soeffingodly, thanks for the recommendation. It looks like Mike is only selling embossing set ups on his site and I am more interested in cutting. Would you recommend starting off with embossing before cutting or should I go straight for a cutting set up if that is my end goal?

[MEGAMIKE]

yes he does you need to get diamonds for the heads thats all..and I would go into cutting not embossing as you cannot scratch or alternate records when they are embossed..when you cut a record the playback sits in the groove properly ..

[soeffingodly]

soeffingodly, thanks for the recommendation. It looks like Mike is only selling embossing set ups on his site and I am more interested in cutting. Would you recommend starting off with embossing before cutting or should I go straight for a cutting set up if that is my end goal?

So I started out embossing and moved to cutting. With Mike's setup and Konstantin's stereo head you can cut with diamonds.

I started with a Presto K8 (embossing), upgraded to a 6N from Mike (embossing), learned the ropes and then I sold everything to fly to Germany to get a T560. But like I said, you can modify Mike's setup and cut hifi with diamonds. I suggest starting out with embossing. It's cheaper and you can learn the ropes. Then move into cutting hifi.

But you could also just start cutting with hifi diamonds and the stereo head. They sound great.

[plates]

Thanks for the helpful info. I think I will get started with embossing on an older lathe and then upgrade it to a stereo diamond head when the time comes

[piaptk]

As Scott said, you can cut diamond with any lathe from a Presto 6N or better (any lesser lathe can accommodate a diamond, but will chew up styli pretty quick due to lack of adjustment points, weight control, etc. Will also be harder to mount a stereo head on anything smaller.)

I don't sell diamonds or even cut diamond all that often, so that is not my specialty. I stick to what I know very well (embossing and the operation/repair/setup of the vintage machines)), and leave room for others to specialize in the diamond cutting.

However, embossing is less complicated, easier, and cheaper and is, in my opinion, the best place to start, even if you want to work your way up to diamonds.

Get to know the machine and the angles, and the techniques where the mistakes are less pricey.

Some people end up deciding that embossing is good enough for what they want and some people eventually upgrade to diamonds and offer a different product at a different price point. There is plenty of room and work for everyone, regardless of what they want to do. Some customers can't afford or don't need diamond cuts (we are always slammed with orders for affordable, mid-fidelity and nice sounding embossed records), and some people require stereo hifi back cue-able records. I don't think ANY lathe cutters are hurting for business these days.

AND, Konstantin has just figured out a workaround for his stereo cutter head that fixes it's one flaw on a 6N (it's inability to reach the RIAA spec locked groove.). He can now mill down the heat sink to get that extra space. I'm stoked to get my head back and set it up.

[boryo]

I think that if you are sure you want to cut instead of emboss then go directly to cutting. If you go to embossing first you will spend time and money to learn it until the moment you want to switch to cutting and then you have to start to learn again. I was browsing the forum for a couple of years until I got my hands on VR and start directly to cut. A friend of mine explained me how to set the machine and the rest is experimentation with some of the possible variations, nothing scary if you careful. I really don't see a reason to go both routes if you are sure you want to cut.

Best,
Bob