One man is an Island Audio

[Serif]

Dear Lathe Trolls,
As you know, the late Albert Grundy had been subcontracting cutterhead coil rewinding work to Island Audio, which is the nom de guerre of the ex-Fairchild engineer and all-around inductor expert, George Alexandrovich, Sr. I'd like to share my initial experience with him, since he has made me tellement content et heureux with his fast and precise service.
Island Audio have delivered on their promise to make me a custom chip tube nozzle for The Lathe.

http://home.fuse.net/injanius/GALabs_Nozzle.JPG

(tt disk suction is provided by a captive hose underneath the platter. This is the later evolution of The Lathe, whereas the original design used a vacuum tower and hose fitted with a spindle mount chuck, like VMS70.)

When I took delivery of my cutting system, in May of 2011, The Lathe was missing the so-called "venturi tube." That's what L. J. Scully called the chip tube nozzle that was to be used with Neumann and Ortofon floating cutterheads.
After reading the AES Anthology of Disk Recording volumes 1 & 2, I realized that chip removal is the second hand of a two-fisted cutting technique used with heated stylus disk recording. The stylus ploughs and the vacuum pulls. It's basically a push-pull operation of lacquer removal to make clean, quiet microgroove records.
I tried and tried different home-brew nozzles. Copper tubes. Plastic cake icing nozzles. Caulking nozzles, both with and without a balloon as a gasket. I think the main problem was not being able to position these nozzles and make it super close and with good suction. The Island Audio nozzle is adjustable and gets right where it needs to be, in front of the mirror, and it has a flattened oval entrance.
It may help you to pity me by recalling that the Ortofon head, unlike the Neumann, does not have a small captive chip suction tube. One must be creative to use the DSS series. I have asked many people for this part, but all anyone had was the Neumann extension tube. ABG sent me one to study. Unfortunately, what I required ended up being quite specific to the LS-Ortofon system.
To see The Lathe (#656) as it has been doing test cuts again, this time using the SideKick tt motor (which works better than the original design motor!), please check this out:

http://home.fuse.net/injanius/Ikegami_Tsushinki_to_Annis.JPG



- Serif @ Dingbat

[gold]

Lookin' good Andrew! Is that an A80 preview deck you have?

[Serif]

Hi Paul,
That Studer is a non-preview A 80 R, 1/4" 7.5 / 15 ips model which I got from local Jewel Recording Studios a few years ago. I think my old band's demo tape got mixed down to it, back in 1979, by Rusty York.
I have a lead on a JH110-M, which is sitting in storage in the building next door. The Studer transport would be preferable, obviously. However, the 110-M's flutter is not much higher than the stock ATR-100, according to the spec sheet I saw.




Andrew

[Greg Reierson]

Can't vouch for its condiction but there's an A80 preview deck on eBay. I'm not sure the seller knows what it is.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/120973198393?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_500wt_1414

[gold]

I have a lead on a JH110-M, which is sitting in storage in the building next door. The Studer transport would be preferable, obviously. However, the 110-M's flutter is not much higher than the stock ATR-100, according to the spec sheet I saw.

Next door is a powerful incentive. It makes a nice pairing to The Lathe. If you bought a package from LJ Scully it came with the MCI. TML did okay with theirs.

[Serif]

Another picture of the nozzle is now available for viewing. I apologize for the Gorilla Tape head connector. I was unable to find hot glue when I got to that point. *\*


http://home.fuse.net/injanius/Right_Nozzle.JPG

Alas, I am still looking for very light gauge lavalier cable for recreating the original head snake. I used some cable which is slightly larger gauge, which prevented me from using the original head connector, since the holes are very small through which the wires (like All Things?) must pass. At least the witch's hat made from Gorilla Tape is more lightweight than the plastic Phonotech connector it replaces. I might cave and bore out the holes, but I am always reluctant to molest audio gear that is out of production.



Andrew

[Serif]

Can't vouch for its condiction but there's an A80 preview deck on eBay. I'm not sure the seller knows what it is.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/120973198393?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_500wt_1414

Thanks, Greg. I like it! However, I just remembered why I can't really go the A-80 preview route with the LS-76. The Lathe uses a full revolution look-ahead for automation calculations. Whereas the Studers were made to work with the Neumann standard preview time, which is, I think, 0.6 rev. Therefore, the only machine I can go with (to make full use of the on-board groove packing math) is either the MCI JH-110/M, which has both 1/2 and 1/1 rev tape threading for each speed, or I could have Mike Spitz modify an ATR-104 and make it have a preview head which is 54" in front of the drive coil repro head and, when not cutting an LP from a 30 ips tape, I'd have to ingest the preview signal to digital for delay to trim the preview head timing down to closer and closer to the arrival time of the drive coil repro head signal, depending on the cutting and tape speeds.

1.8 seconds is the look-ahead for 33 1/3 (since this is 1/1 rev). 1.3 seconds is the look-ahead for 45 rpm. Tape speed affects the required time/distance calculation, as well. A 45 rpm single cut on The Lathe from a 7.5 ips tape means the distance between the preview and drive coil heads should be 9.75". That's 7.5 in/sec. x 1.3 sec.

If the ATR-104 were fitted with a preview repro head which is 54", fixed position, in front of the drive coil repro head, and we wanted to cut this 45 from the 7.5 ips tape, we'd have to start with the signal being 54"/7.5 ips ahead of time, which is I think 7.2 seconds and delay that by something like 5.9 seconds in order for The Lathe to make best use of the fidelity and time capacity of the single.

For now, if I want to cut some Classical or Jazz or other style with macro-dynamics, I can use some nice D/A converters (Weiss DAC-1 MKII for cutterhead + whatever's clever for The Lathe inputs - e.g., SoundBlaster? j/k). For Tape mastering, I'll have to do manually adjusted pitch and depth, until I get the MCI operational or go with an ATR mod.


One thing that intrigued me about The Lathe, besides the fact that it needs a copy of the Left Program as well as the Right Preview for Feed, and yet another set of preview signals, left and right, for Depth, is that these _INPUTS_ are on XLR _MALE_ jacks and of course they are all PIN 3 HIGH.

The Ortofon amps I have were marketed for the US, so they have been factory modded to have pin 3 High - EXCEPT, for some odd reason, the Drive Coil outputs are still pin 2 High, even though the Feedback coil Inputs are pin 3 High. I found this out by ear... Fortunately the oscillation was immediately arrested by turning the Feedback down again and re-revising the connections. I guess that's why I had to do the zombie spike saga, since I was supposed to have blown that head. (:



Andrew

[Serif]

P. S., there's a more official 'blog about chip tube nozzles, aka, venturi tubes, over at my blogserver:


http://home.fuse.net/injanius/Venturi_Tube.html


Serif @ Dingbat

[mossboss]

Impressive Photo, the first one that is
Particularly the Leotards on the Argon Bottle
Better cut when one wears them?
Or just inspiration for the cutting guy when some one else wears them?
Another thing
What is it with cutting guys and these old fashioned lamps
It is about the 5th one I have seen in a cutting room
My guys have them as well in 2 cutting rooms
I can never get an answer out of them why they seem to be fascinated by the never ending movement varying shape of the bubble
Any clues??
Cheers

[Serif]

Hi Mossboss,
Glad you like the jungle motif. The bottle is wearing a vest that I made, years ago. (It may help to understand my eccentricity by realizing that I am, at core, a drummer. It was music playing, recording, and performing (sometimes in wild outfits), which led me to engineering, rather than the other way around.) In 1979, I was in a local musical called, The Rock 'n' Roll Troll, in which I played both myself (age 12) and the mean troll of Boogieville. (Honest... This was written by the daughter of the founder of the first radio station in town (WEBN) to play complete sides of new rock releases, at certain times of the week, instead of just the promos. Back in the early '70's...) You should have seen that costume! Made by Larry Smith, who made the famous puppet, Batty Hatty from Cincinnati...

I am glad I saved this jungle vest, because it is made out of neoprene wetsuit material on the back and fake fur, lined with satin, on the front. Both materials seem to be effective at silencing a lot of the "sing" of the cylinder. You know, how it resonates with certain sounds, like a little reverb chamber?
As for the Lava Lite, it is merely a convenient, and period-correct indication lamp. In my room, it merely indicates that the pump relay is supposed to be energized. Harder to forget to turn off this way. I was resolved to move that vacuum relay line completely from the lathe and its logic/power supplies, so I didn't want to interlock even microswitching to the bed.


- Neo Preens

Impressive Photo, the first one that is
Particularly the Leotards on the Argon Bottle
Better cut when one wears them?
Or just inspiration for the cutting guy when some one else wears them?
Another thing
What is it with cutting guys and these old fashioned lamps
It is about the 5th one I have seen in a cutting room
My guys have them as well in 2 cutting rooms
I can never get an answer out of them why they seem to be fascinated by the never ending movement varying shape of the bubble
Any clues??
Cheers

[fraggle]

nice setup serif

[mossboss]

Well here we are
Does Every picture tells a story? No way
Here is perfect example of perception to the real story
Thanks for the insight
By the way I do like your setup as I am the other way No musician just the nuts and bolts
I wonder what is the ratio between cutting against fixing/adding/adjusting/fiddling
The picture indicates the later, Tools on the ready for a never ending, what if or what has to be fixed scenario
Or is it a combined experimenting lab with some cutting?
Just curious
By the way I do have a Fairchild head that George was the designer/builder many moons ago
I was looking for his contact details a while now
So inadvertently with your post I now have it
Thank You
Cheers

[Serif]

...
I wonder what is the ratio between cutting against fixing/adding/adjusting/fiddling
The picture indicates the later, Tools on the ready for a never ending, what if or what has to be fixed scenario
Or is it a combined experimenting lab with some cutting?
...

Less cutting is actually a good thing. Measure twice, cut once, yes? (>: I've learned that the less I get done, the fewer mistakes are made. I even had the gaul to think that to do disc mastering I'd really only have to scratch the surface of this Art. 0:

The work bench is in the picture, but it's not a permanent fixture. Albert Grundy would say that my disc recording system is still "in development." I have had a proper nozzle for only a few days...

The purpose of the development is to provide cutting for Cincinnati, again. It may be of some interest that Jelly Roll Morton recorded player piano scrolls at the Vocal Style Music Company on Fourth Street in Cincinnati in the early 1920's. My landlord's company, QCA have a Mosler safe in the shop room which has Vocal Style's name on it. Kinda neat, since piano scrolls were the first sound media.

The room I am setting up was where I had my own masters cut in the early 1980's. There hasn't been a working lathe in town since the early 1990's (maybe 1990, itself). I ended up back here at QCA by coincidence after I switched sides of the studio glazing (from "talent" to engineer). To make things even more coincidental, when I learned that my lathe used to belong to Mike Fuller, I also learned that Mike Fuller learned disc cutting in this building, while he was in High School. My landlord was his boss. Small world? Circular, too...

As I mentioned, I am in this for the long haul (45 yrs. - 78 yrs is the target career path). Right now, development has been the lion's share of my efforts, rather than cutting sides. I have done so, but the out-of-the-box repairs to these vintage items have dominated the set-up man-hours, so far.


I have been working on restoring and fine-tuning this system every day, with plenty of siestas and Netflix, for the past 450 days, or so, since its delivery. My first job was to repair the power supply for the Ortofon amps. Then I found I had to repair the power unit in one of the amps. Then I had to have the microscope repaired (threads re-chased) at a machinist's. Then I had to make a nozzle (blog about that already posted). Meanwhile I had to rebuild the cutterhead snake. Then I had to work on The Lathe's psu, since it turned out to be a hot rodded older version psu used to power the newer cards. Not cool (to the touch). Was slow-cooking logic at too high Vcc, also. Have since modded.

I have set up an all-analog cutting compatibility processing chain, using Dietrich's Dangerous Audio BAX eqs, his Ortofon Regulated Filter, and a custom, 4-channel Elliptical eq from Paul Gold, which will be blogged about in the near future.

I recently built my own console for preview, program, and monitor gain control with cutter key. This involved learning about active electronics, rather than just the passive approach I had hitherto taken. (: Will blog.

Rest assured, however, that this is not merely an experimental laboratory (although that would be cool, too, actually). I have premastering clients who are waiting already for me to cut their lacquer sound discs, too. Do you have any suggestions on how better I might cut their lsd? (;

My dad went to China years ago and walked into a hut where a man was carving a piece of jade. Dad was told that the man had worked on the same piece for over 3 years. Carving a Cappscoop stylus, no doubt.

- Chip Swarf

[mossboss]

Absolutely fantastic effort so far obviously with good results from what I gather
Thats the problem with these old machines, a never ending battle in keeping them going or getting them up and running again
Breathe new life into them
The background as you describe it is also quite fascinating
The circulatory way this lathe and the people involved in it, seems to be in one way or another connected with the building or people still around the town
Not so many degrees of separation there
Well good luck with it at least you have some good people around to assist you, unlike some places where the knowledge has evaporated or people moved on making it impossible to track down
Here is an experience of mine
There was a guy that modified Alpha Toolex presses for the CD4 project of RCA some years back, early 80's
I come across a post of his in a forum where he said no way one could make a flat record with that pile of crap
They needed perfectly flat records for their Video players which spun at 400 rpm
He modified the presses as well as designed the molds to achieve that goal, perfectly flat vinyl records
I managed to track him down after some months and we had exchanged email with some very useful, (to me), pointers from the man
Than there was silence from his end until I came across a notice of the man passing away
Unfortunately we will so more and more of that, like it or not
It is just as well there people like you and some others to keep this game going
The very best and all the luck to you
Cheers

[Serif]

I appreciate your kind remarks, Sir Mossboss.

It may interest you that my landlord did all the jobs at QCA when he was younger, which included galvanizing and pressing, as well as printing and packaging. He did all the studio jobs, too, at various times, from multi-tracking, to direct-to-disk mastering, and was particularly fond of the circular flow drainage of his metalizing lab. He refers to the book written by K. R. Smith (?), and used one of his helix indicators for determining the electrochemical properties of the bath water. Perhaps you can comment on this. If it twists one way, you add more of one thing, and if it twists the other, you add more of another - or maybe just back off on the first... Is it current or copper? Or some catalyst? Anyway, he's got his E.E. and also learned from his father, as well as cutters and platers that worked there. Before there were optical breakers. Plenty of advice, here, even though he was always a Neumann guy, so some things have to be done the hard way (e.g., Google *=*).

As I mentioned, I've learned a lot from Burgess Macneal. He is so full of information that he should write several books. Among his many mastering jobs, he had a long job doing all the 16" disc cutting for the Romper Room children's tv show. A new disc was made for each show. It was played live on air and didn't usually skip. (:

Also, my uncle was a studio musician for King Records in the 50's. He remembers Mr. King's Scully being used, there. Uncle Dave went on to what I consider big things in electronics, but he got not much recognition or reward. When he was in high school, he bought a couple of old teletype machines and got one to work, using parts from the other. I think he was onto something, there...



- Herculine Pultape

[mossboss]

I think that helix you are talking about its an indicator of the status of your solution in the bath
It indicates tension on the deposit weather it is tensile or compressive
The way it twists indicates the status at that point in time
It does not necessarily tells you of what you need to do rather what the state the solution is at that point in time
Than you need to adjust the bath accordingly and it is not a game for the novice either
This is where the black art in plating for the production of record stampers in particular comes in as it has to be formed and used on the press
The master and the mother are in essence security steps
The stamper is where the job will be done so it has to be ductile rather that brittle with very little if any compressive stress due to the deposition of Nickel
What most people do not relise is this: Plating is a decorative process so in essence it does not have to do any work as such where by a stamper has to be able to press 1000 records while it goes under contraction expansion twice or more times a minute during the production run
That is where the art of the plater comes in The master is stored as a reference and the Mother or positive is used to make another stamper so they do not have to do much But the stamper Aha
Besides the helix there is also the Hull cell which is used so as to determine other properties of the baths
From my point of view the galvanic in a pressing shop is the most interesting part of the whole process of making records
Much as people think that is the make or break in a production environment A split stamper is a headache and a half as well as the fact that given that the process has not been followed through the records will be noisy with hiss as well as background noise due to bad silvering or a crystalline deposit on the lacquer as well as other issues that may be caused by this step
It seems that your landlord has done the lot I have done the same but it almost impossible to do this anywhere but in a small scale operation like 2 machines and no more as there is just not enough hours in a day or a month for that matter
We often press 5K record per day Impossible to be a one man band
Keep at it you doing fine
Cheers
Soul fa mate