This sale is for a rare 1926 Western Electric cutting lathe model D-85249. These were originally used for cutting Vitaphone discs for sound films, but they continued to be used for many decades for various disc recording needs at the studios. This one was modified for playback and record inspection. It uses a 1940s drive update that allows for all three turntable speeds. The turntable is working great and will work with most 16" tonearms.
The Western Electric lathe was the most expensive item ever in the Western Electric studio catalog. It was 10 times as expensive as a complete 41-42-43 amplifier rack. All pieces are precision machined castings. This particular machine is a good one if someone wants to do record cutting with it. It has an outside-in feedscrew installed that makes it more useful for modern recording. For record cutting, the microscope is removed and a head mount is installed.
Complete documentation on the lathe and the drive system is included. The drive system used a very sophisticated filtering system that is detailed in the documentation.
