Diamond Disc Lathe

[donniej]

The supply of DD's for me to copy has been getting light lately so I've restarted work on a DD lathe. You may have seen my video from the Edison Historic Site where I examined all the remaining cutting heads and most of the lathes. This info combined with info online and from other enthusiasts has been great, having machining equipment helps too

I've fixed up a DD motor, added dual springs and made my own connection from the feedscrew to the cutting head. It's currently setup for a 4M acoustic cutting head but that's just for testing, an electric cutter is also in the works. The limit loop has been a problem cutting discs and I had to gently bend it upwards. The stylus wouldn't cut vinyl blanks but did cut lacquers. The lacquers were however noisy so I'm not sure if it's an optimization issue or if the blunt-end sapphire rod only works properly with wax. Wax blanks aren't too hard to make but the initial shaving is quite laborious.

So if any of you have clean MP3's of DD's you're willing to share, hopefully I'll be making good cuts in the coming weeks....

[GregVTLA]

Would you ever cut a newer song? I've always wondered how a newer song would sound on an acoustic recording!

[emgcr]

Ah yes ! That is what I should like to know too. Making new DDs and, in particular, 78s of modern performances would be very exciting indeed !

[estott]

I don't see the need to recut DD's when you can make resin casts of them.

[donniej]

Would you ever cut a newer song? I've always wondered how a newer song would sound on an acoustic recording!

It's a lot of work to make a 78, and DD's will likely be even more work. I'd consider making newer discs but it will take a certain number of prepaid sales to make it happen. Copyrights are also an issue.

I don't see the need to recut DD's when you can make resin casts of them.

This assumes I can get my hands on an original, which is often difficult. This is surely one of the reasons the guys making new cylinders typically have them cut from MP3.

[estott]

I don't see the need to recut DD's when you can make resin casts of them.

This assumes I can get my hands on an original, which is often difficult. This is surely one of the reasons the guys making new cylinders typically have them cut from MP3.

That, and making a mold of a cylinder was always tricky and must still be so.