The Secret Society of Lathe Trolls

tim · Joined: 08 Feb 2010 Posts: 2

i've searched the internet and here and couldn't quite find the answers i was looking for so i thought i'd join and post a thread.

i have a recordio 6b30 and have have varied degrees of success with it. i'm sure the cutter is as old as the device and probably has never been changed. the mic it came with was missing the insides (just 2 exposed wires and drawing on yellowed paper of 2 wires connecting to a circle) so i've been running little alligator clips from the exposed wires to an 1/8 mono jack which seems to work fine for the moment. everything works and it does cut but the volume either drops suddenly or gradually over the course of cutting (on the recording not through the speakers). i'm also cutting on lexan which may not help too. not looking for amazing results but somewhat consistent would be nice.

any ideas why there would be the volume issue? cutter head maybe or old cutter?

i am considering sending the cutter head out to west-tech and getting some new cutters but wanted some input before mailing things out and dropping money to solve something that may not be the problem.

thanks in advance,
tim

mossboss · Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2010 3:30 am Post subject: Tim

Welcome aboard Enjoy your stay
Your are asking a lot out of this little guy man
It was made in the forties to cut on soft material
Any way be that as it may
Most likeley all the caps in the amp need replacing as if they as old as when the machine was made they would be leaking like your grandmas sieve
But not water, electric curent
Why dont you get a local tech to change the capacitors on it regardless Just make sure that they are the same ratings
They are costly now days as they are rated at around the 150-250 V
If you are handy with the soldering iron it is not a hard task
Buy them on ebay as low cost as possible and don't worry about the fancy stuff just as long as they will fit and they are rated at the same capacity and Voltage as the ones you are going to replace itl be fine
Make sure that all valves/tubes light up and most likely you would find an improvement
However I would strongly suggest you start cutting on something softer than lexan at least to get some idea what the machine is doing
It was certainly never the top of range device
You are asking to much out of it
I am no Recordio expert but I can assure you I would not be far off the mark
Any way See how you go
As an after thought
Why dont you cut on some soft material like a low cost lacquer and see if there is a loss of volume on them
If so than do the above
If not than you have your answers The stuff is just to hard for it
That stuff breaks shapphire as well as diamond styli when the head is driving it into the surface so as to cut
Poor old recordio would be hard pushed to do that
Hope this helps
Cheers
_________________
Chris From Zenith. Australia
The older I get The Better I was

piaptk · Joined: 25 Jan 2008 Posts: 186

What kind of stylus are you using?

tim · Joined: 08 Feb 2010 Posts: 2

moss-
thanks for the input. i'm extremely new at all of this so any info helps. i've been getting better results lately. i think i may have been trying at too high a volume. i've tried a few other surfaces with worse results than the lexan. will try to find some lacquers (you mean the old discs they made for the recordio right?) and see if there is anyone in my area who could check the capacitors.

at the moment i'm still getting a kick out of being able to hear the sounds i make played off of a material i picked up at a harware store. good enough for now. start crappy and hopefully work my way up. thanks again.

piaptk-
not really sure (like i said i'm super new and finding info's pretty tough). from what i've gleaned from the bits and pieces i did find i'm guessing it's steel. i've got another stylus from a friend who bought a broken sears cutter. a bit of a different shape but seems to cut nicer grooves. really old as well so i'm guessing steel again.

if interested there's a clip of a recording here: http://mollball.com/log/?p=289
may throw up some pictures of the styli.

thanks,
tim