I thought I'd share this article about Ulrich Sourisseau, a maker of DIY vinyl cutting lathes.
It’s a great addition to the big commercial record companies where small bands sometimes have to wait a year to get a handful of records pressed.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/feb/25/vinyl-carver-lathe-cutters-home-cutting-records-craze
https://www.vinylrecorder.com/
It’s a great addition to the big commercial record companies where small bands sometimes have to wait a year to get a handful of records pressed.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/feb/25/vinyl-carver-lathe-cutters-home-cutting-records-craze
https://www.vinylrecorder.com/
Typical of the press, at the end of it I still didn't know how long it takes to cut a disc, are they cut half speed? How often do you change the diamond cutter? How much do the blanks cost? How much does a cut disc cost?
But fascinating none the less.
But fascinating none the less.
That's why I included the website of the manufacturer.
There's all the info you need and even a contact page. 🙂
There's all the info you need and even a contact page. 🙂
I noticed. It was more a grumble at the Guardian. Surely the fascinating thing is the why and how of the guy making these things? Perhaps it's just me.
But I find a lot of media output is like that, written by people who say 'tech' but always make sure they've washed their hands afterwards...
Exactly. Before, as diy-ers, we could record on every medium (tape, CD, HDD,.. ) except vinyl.
It's not cheap but if you are smart you can make a nice little business out of it.
Lathe to the Grave is an example.
As for the technical side, I wonder why they use diamond and not sapphire as a cutter.
I always heard sapphire is preferred but I don't know why.
Cost? Diamond is harder, and now that industrial diamond manufacture has dropped prices I suppose the cost advantage of sapphire has disappeared.
Don't know, I thought it had something to do with the sound.
I can hardly imagine a big manufacturing label would save on costs for cutting stylus, looking at the price of all other equipment.
Could be wrong. 🙂
I can hardly imagine a big manufacturing label would save on costs for cutting stylus, looking at the price of all other equipment.
Could be wrong. 🙂
The inverse of the ubiquitous USB connected vinyl ripping turntable. Unless of course you can get Dave Grusin and Larry Carlton to swing by for a direct to disc session. It is to wonder who in ordinary musicianship land is going to be able to pull that off.
Yes, all that is possible:
Precision motor
Synchronized with Technics.
33 / 45 / 78 RpM
16,6 / 22,5 RpM ( halfspeed )
Torque: 75 kg/cm !
Weight 10 kg
In any case, the fellow making the lathes is in business since at least 2017.
I'm in no way affiliated, I just think it's a very nice addition to the diy world. 🙂
There's always fascination with a niche device that almost no one else has. Its human nature.
My father had a 78 with his voice on it when I was a kid. It was like any other 78 we had, but had three extra holes besides the center. He said that got recorded when he was in college, for some speech class. I used to play it and was just fascinated that my father's recognizable voice could be on a real record.
So I can imagine there's something to a quartet leaving someone's home studio each with a vinyl record in hand, versus a USB stick. Even if the tracks were mixed on the computer based DAW.
Quote from the now defunct audio-restoration site found at Steve Hoffman's forum. There's an interesting post on DMM too.
"Diamond is not a good material for a cutting stylus, but is excellent as a reproducing stylus. Because of its lack of grain, crystalline structure and cleavage, sapphire may be ground to very accurate dimensions and angles, while retaining a very fine cutting edge. These properties are of prime importance in manufacturing a recording stylus. Believe it or not, a sapphire recording stylus will outlast a diamond and produce superior recordings."
The diy lathe cuts vinyl, not lacquer plates and that might be the reason why they use diamond styli.
"Diamond is not a good material for a cutting stylus, but is excellent as a reproducing stylus. Because of its lack of grain, crystalline structure and cleavage, sapphire may be ground to very accurate dimensions and angles, while retaining a very fine cutting edge. These properties are of prime importance in manufacturing a recording stylus. Believe it or not, a sapphire recording stylus will outlast a diamond and produce superior recordings."
The diy lathe cuts vinyl, not lacquer plates and that might be the reason why they use diamond styli.
There is one chap in the NVHR (Nederlandse Vereniging voor de Historie van de Radio, Dutch Association for the History of the Radio) who has an old 78 RPM cutting lathe. It was originally used by a Dutch national broadcasting organization for electronic news gathering, long before tape recorders became commonly available. He occasionally uses it for making single-copy 78 RPM direct-to-disc recordings on a lacquer.
The Artone studio in my hometown ( https://www.artone-studio.com/ ) is also used for direct-to-disc recording, but only when at least a few hundred copies need to be made (on vinyl, 33 1/3 or 45 RPM). Artists who are used to perform for thousands of people get nervous when they have a recording session there.
The Artone studio in my hometown ( https://www.artone-studio.com/ ) is also used for direct-to-disc recording, but only when at least a few hundred copies need to be made (on vinyl, 33 1/3 or 45 RPM). Artists who are used to perform for thousands of people get nervous when they have a recording session there.
Makes you realise how adventurous the people who made the early blues/folk recordings were. A wind-up luggable cutting machine and a very limited supply of blank discs.
What could possibly go wrong...
What could possibly go wrong...
