VINYL RECORD PRODUCTION KNOWLEDGE BASE:

CUTTING LATHES

Here i listed all info about various cuttng lathes. If possible, I will publish pictures, datasheets and personal experience

• NEUMANN LATHES:
  
  based in berlin germany george neumann build already in the early 30ies cutting lathes. first for wax then for laquer.neumann lathes are made in extremly good quality and most of the even 1930 lathes are still used. but neumann lathes where also extremly expensive and heavy over engineered.
  typical german industrial standard. cost a fortune. last for ever.
  
  
  • AM31
  • AM32AM32b , and neumann am32b advertisement,datasheet
    very good and reliable machine. the am32b was robust.solid and best quality. there where so many version made. built from approx 1952 till 1966.
    
  • VMS66, and neumann vms66 advertisement,datasheet
  this lathe was the first with transistorized pitch control. the pitchcontrol has 4 synchronized sectors where the peak information is stored.
  this lathe was mainly operated with the also newly developped VG-66 amplifier rack.
  
  • VMS70, and neumann vms70 advertisement,datasheet
    this is the most used lathe now days.
    the vms70 was technically the same as the VMS70. main change was the color and the shape of the console.also the tonearm was mainly a SME3012 or a Grace 12 inch.
    more than 500 machines where made.
    
  • VMS80
    the vms80 was a big change. neumann used also mechanically a new shape and electronically this lathe was the overkill of technology these days. microcontrollers and tons of digital chips where used to have nearly every comfort you can get. also the pitch system now had 16 sectors and they developed a phase recogintion system. through that the vms80 was able to pack much more on one side.
    nowdays the vms80 is the top and state of the art cutting lathe. pride of every cutting room. but only about 80 pcs where made.
    
  • VMS82
    the last lathe ever made. approx 34 machines only. they took a vms80 and made some modifications to get it stronger. which was needed to cut into copper.
    
    
• SCULLY LATHES:
the american way of cut.
scully lathes where made by larry scully. most of them where made in the 40ies and there are still lot of them working. nicely made. optical much more exciting than a neumann the quality was never comparable. althought most of todays "audiophile" records where cut on these lathes.
nice feature of the 1940ies scullys is the inside out leadscrew. you have 2 leadscews. one for cut normal and one for inside out cuts...
the first lathes where all fixed pitch with a gear box. lather models ha a very complicated "vary-groove" mechanism where tube electronics controlled a strange mechanism to varie the pitch.
the biggest disadvantage on scully lathes was the belt driven turntable. with a asynchrounous motor, 2 belts and a heavy clutch the turntable was never that strong and stable.
i have not that much information about models. also i dont know if there are model numbers exist.
here some impressions
• scully approx. 1940 with gear box
  
• scully approx 1960 with vari- groove
  
• scully the lathe. apprx 1970 redesigned. not too many made.
  
  


• LYREC
  
  • Lyrec SV10 the danish company known for their  tape replication systems made in the 40'es till 60'ies some very nice and compact lathes. I never managed to get one. and only saw one a lyrec in original. They also made direct drive motors for the Neumann lathes.
  
  
  
• PIERRE CLEMENT
  
  • Clement Main suplier for the french RTF (Radio Télévision Française). Joined SCHLUMBERGER SA. after Pierre Clément's death in 1971
  
  
• POLTZ FRERES
  
  • Poltz made small, portable lathes for the radio and tv stations. Some very nice and compact lathes.
  
  
  
  
• PRESTO
  
  especially in the 30'es to 50'ies presto made a lot of small, portable lathes for the radio stations.
  you can get them cheap  and they are nice. all fixed pitch with exchangeable feedscews to change pitch.
  presto Model D. 1936
  presto Model E
  presto Model J5. amateur lathe.1937
  presto 75.
  presto Model K 33.33, 78 rpm. 112 lpi, outside in inside out. 12 inch turntable. integrated amplifier seen in Allied Radio advertisement 1946
  --->K6
  ---->K8
  ---->K11. 1951
  ----->K12. 1956
  presto Model Y 33.33, 78 rpm 0.4 percent accuracy.integrated amplifier.10 watt at 8 ohm . seen in Allied Radio advertisement 1946
  presto 6D the portable presto from 1934 onwards
  presto 6N
  presto 8D. 1939-1941
  
  • Presto 8N
    presto 8G
    presto 8GV. gear driven, vacuum hold down
    presto 14B
    
    
    
• FAIRCHILD
  
  made a couple of lathes. dont have one and only few infos.
  
  
• CYBERSONIC
  
  companie from california made a few lathes in the 80'ies. small. shitty. but some nice ideas....
  
  
  
  
  
• Radio Disc
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Rek-O-Cut
  
  12 inch recording overhead. 16 inch recording overhead.
  
  
  
  
  
• Allied Recorder
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Speak-O-Phone
  
  
  
  
  and tons of other small companies especially in the pre-tape area (1920-1950) many other companies.
  some brands( thorens,mag,sareg,RCA,western electric, telefunken, emi....)
  
  copyright 1993-2007 by flo kaufmann. if you want to use some stuff, feel free for non-commercial projects, but it would be nice to let me know and to mention the source on all publicatons.for all commercial projects ask: flo_at_floka.com: replace _at_ with @.
  
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  last modified: 18.9.2007