Help a Newbie with a Fairchild 199 Lathe

[barret32]

I was very fortunate to acquire a Fairchild 199 Lathe and I know nothing about it or record cutting. I doubt I will ever use it as it was intended, but instead keep it in my "collection that ticks off my wife". I was hoping your collective wealth of knowledge can let me know what is missing from it. The Google has been no help. I plugged it in and as far as I can tell everything works. There is one cord that is cut and I don't know what that would have led to. The "head" is a Fairchild 541a-993. How complete is this thing?

I can't seem to get any of my pics to post, but I did post a video of it working-

the Topside-

I'll post a vid of the undercarriage when its done uploading.

Thanks in advance!

[studiorp]

Hi, but you want restore and use it, or only for " museum " ?

[barret32]

Restore it, yes. Use it? I doubt I have ANY of the appropriate equipment, or funds, necessary to actually cut a record with it. If it is missing, say 50%, of the original pieces, I will just sell it. If it's close to complete, I may source those parts and refurb it. Museum it.

[barret32]

Here is the vid of the undercarriage as promised-

[studiorp]

I understand now. But your video through Youtube doesn't work...
Can you post here some pics ?

[barret32]

Hmm. It's working on my screen. I tried uploading pics, but the "Browse" button doesn't do anything. If you search youtube for a fairchild 199 I'm sure my 3 vids will pop right up.

[studiorp]

Now the videos are working. The lathe seems be complete below and too up. So the motor is noisy, but obvious, it's not lubricated from many years, but it run; the platter spin too, the gears work , so basically the mechanic parts from your videos could be ok.

Have you tested the cutting head with a tester ?

In the meantime if you are interested see the Fairchild 523 used in Rai ( Italy Radio Television - Radio Audizioni Italiane ) : http://creativemedia3.rai.it/podcastcdn/Rai/1307999.mp4?auth=daEdcaVckdWbhc5b4b4brd6btb_bmdzcHbu-buZ9mx-c0-CjywrHv&aifp=V001

[barret32]

I appreciate all the help. I have not tried to test it- where do I get a tester? How does it work?

[rsimms3]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VIDEO-Fairchild-199-Lathe-with-541A-993-Head-Cut-Record-Vinyl-Lacquer-16-034-Platt-/181657072828?&_trksid=p2056016.m2516.l5255

[studiorp]

It's already on Ebay ??

A tester measure many electronic values like ohm ( resistors ) , farad ( capacitors ), henry ( coils ), ampere, ac and dc volt, etc.

For your cutting head you must measure the resistance .

See here for understand better : http://www.lathetrolls.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4382&p=26862&hilit=fairchild+541#p26862

[studiorp]

Sorry for this my opinion, but at the end you have ask to forum infos on your lathe for then only resale on Ebay?

I don't believe that this is the spirit of this forum, because if one person show own lathe here is for join to us the our " strange and very particular, but terribly wonderful "passion, no for other things.

Repeat it's my opinion, so you can be agree or not with me.

Good luck with your sale.

[barret32]

I posted that auction on eBay at the same time I asked for the forums help. It might have been premature, but I doubted that my item was worth salvaging. I now know it's mostly complete and may be worth testing. If I test it and it works, I will probably pull the auction. I don't want you to think I'm taking advantage of anybody. I'm sorry if it went over like that.

[rsimms3]

For testing the head for continuity and ohm rating, the easiest way would be to remove the adapter assembly that holds the head from the carriage assembly. That means removing the large nut at the pivot point where that assembly moves up and down. Once you remove the nut, pull the bolt and you can swing the adapter assembly with the head around so you can see the back of the head. It should look like the picture below. Put your tester (multimeter) on those two screw posts on the back and set it to continuity. This will tell you if the head is good. Then, follow the two wires going from the head to the terminal on the plinth. It should plug in somewhere on the top of the plinth with a two prong connector, much like a modern two prong power cord. Unplug that and then go back to the head. Set your meter to the lowest ohm setting. 541s are supposed to be 500 ohm according to the Fairchild 539 manual, but could be other ratings. If your meter errors out, then go to the next setting. Reading around here, a reading in the 100s would probably indicate a 500 ohm head, something in the 3-4 range would be an 8 ohm head. Using that rating, you can find an amp to use with it.

[barret32]

No two ways about it, you guys are the best! I will do just that when I get home. Any suggestions on where to pick up blank vinyl, in case I want to try to cut a disc with it?

[rsimms3]

You're a long way from that at the moment. You still need to verify the cutting needle is any good. That requires looking at it with a microscope. If it's bad, you'll need to source a new one or gently used one. You could probably get by with one of Jerry's steel needles off of eBay in the triangle variety if you want to cut an actual acetate. Before any of that, you need to make sure the motor is clean enough and properly lubed to run for tests/cutting. If it really hasn't been run for 40 years, the lubricant may be hard or have debris in it which can ruin the motor. Same for all the mechanics including the gears and feedscrew. If you want it for a museum piece I'd suggest putting it in a custom base and putting it in the display case. If you want to make records with it, you'll need to go through it and make sure everything is clean, lubricated, and functional. Oh, and you'll need an amp to drive the cutterhead. I haven't watched the videos with sound to see how loud the motor was when you had it running.

My suggestion, and many others, would be to read, read, and read some more around the forums to fully understand what is involved in this hobby.

[barret32]

The needle on mine looks like it's made out of crystal. What would that cut? And the amp I would need-is a special one for cutting? I have dozens of amps-tube and solid state.

[studiorp]

You can use any amp for test your head; use an amp possibly with over 100w, better 150.
Totally agree with rsimms3, as I said in first post, you must before clean and remove all parts from your machine and re-lubricate all, so a lot of time and money will go before to test your lathe.

[studiorp]

The lathe must be more perfect possible in each part. I know that all these machines are old, but in each case is possible recover them, you must only have patience, many patience...

[studiorp]

Consider that in my case only for find the right lathe for me at a cheap price I have waited 7 years...

[rsimms3]

I'd suggest reading the manual for the 539, similar to your 199.

http://www.corporaterecords.biz/Fairchild539.pdf