The Secret Society of Lathe Trolls

This seems somewhat implausible. 20 minutes, and only a third of the disc? I would like to see that.

Also I doubt it's a safety net, pitch control is a very well understood process at this point. Where is the danger exactly?

5% of reviews on Trustpilot are 1-star. Issues ranging from noise, distortion, smudges, wrong tracks, delays, no audio at all, the list goes on.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/elasticstage.com?stars=1

It’s definitely missing a human, we know (via a friend) of someone who’s had to cancel their entire release after getting extremely low quality cuts, bad fidelity, low volume and noisey. I assume a human didn’t listen back to that. Just seen on their instagram loads of terrible comments, seems the ...

farmersplow wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 02, 2026 10:20 am

farmersplow wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 02, 2026 8:43 am

If it works that way too, then they've done a good job.

Obviously, it doesn't work that way.

It's not a good idea to cut with swarf all over the place is it? I find it gets in the way of the cut and can sometimes be audible.

Vacuum chucks produce vibration? Don't they take the same feed from the chip suction anyway? Neat idea to use an electrostatic chuck, but is it a game changer, or a solution to a problem that didn't exist? I think we are looking at this in the wrong way. I can't see much in the way of revolutionary ...

Hey G, it was inevitable I guess! They are often used in kitchen downlights for some reason so BnQ sometimes have them, just need to make sure they are halogen and not LED. I think I got my last lot from TLC electrical distributors because they were closer. You can get the lamps in various shapes an...

Cool! Any information about pricing for the reference discs? Will they be like the Apollo dubs, lacquer rejects so to speak?

I see no reason why this can't be done, but the problem would be finding someone willing to do it. Folks tend to get used to using a certain finely tuned set up, and might not want to sub out their existing amp. I seem to remember The Exchange in London had a vintage room with "Scully lathe and West...

I find that you don't need to heat the whole disc, in fact it's best if you don't because the centre of the disc gets a lot hotter than the edge. I tend to apply a small targetted heat source to the edge of the disc, and the heat naturally makes it's way to the centre, and you get much more even spr...

Sounds good. I tend to prefer small concentrated lamps because my workspace can get quite cluttered, especially when working with 12 inches. I have one light on the left for heating, one small spot on the right for the stylus so I can see when it lands, and one big overhead light so the whole space ...

Yes I favour lamps with G4 halogen bulbs. They are small and kick out a nice bit of heat with the right reflector, cheap and easy to get hold of unlike your tungsten spots.

ElasticStage having nothing to do with lasers seems to be the obvius conclusion and consensus. I think it would be appropriate for the original poster to revise at least the subject/title of this thread, or for the moderators to review it, unless unsubstantiated public claims about other people’s b...

Does it make sense to cut vinyl directly with a laser? Under certain conditions, yes. If it's flawless, has no background noise, and at least the quality of analog. If it's just as fast or faster, that's an advantage, but not absolutely necessary. The fact is, it's not possible to cut vinyl (or pla...

Thanks guys for getting back on the other topic here, lasers! I think laser cutting is a massive stretch. It's fine for burning pits into CDs, but is there a laser that can cut such fine 3D grooves? And faster than real time? Maybe I am missing something here, but how do you cut one wall at 45 degre...

For the record, I am quoting from this page: https://elasticstage.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/articles/29651058826001-How-does-elasticStage-make-its-records How does elasticStage make its records? 10 months ago Updated We’ve invented a new technology that has been validated by all major record labels, lead...

I have a few things to add to this conversation, mostly as talking points: Based on their answer to "Are your vinyl records lathe cut?" on their own website, they seem to be saying that yes, theirs are lathe cut: https://elasticstage.zendesk.com/hc/en-gb/articles/30571646736529-Are-your-vinyl-recor...

It is difficult to understand how anyone could seriously question whether this process qualifies as record cutting. A simple observation of the lead-in reveals the unmistakable signature of a cutting tool progressively engaging the material...precisely as in conventional records cutting Moreover, a...

How much protesting is actually too much? The limit has been reached here.... methinks. One of the people behind ES ran a well known 'vinyl carving' operation for 15 or so years. A mutual acquaintence of ours furnished me with some interesting details on what happened subsequently. Suffice to say: ...

I want to be careful what I say here because I think all new businesses deserve a chance to lay out their stall and make a go of it. As a fellow vinyl practioner, I welcome them into our ecosystem and wish them the best of luck. Having said that, there are just so many unanswered questions about thi...

Just looks like different audio to me... is that silent recording?