From: Patent Tactics, George Brock-Nannestad

Hello,

Martin Fisher wrote about this disc lathe, but the message looks as if there 
had been preceding messages that I have not received. I shall comment anyway. 


My first impression from looking at the firstcask image is that this is a 
mock-up, not a real thing at all. The top plate, which looks as if it is the 
only solid piece of metal in the whole construction, does have the general 
proportions and/or measurements of top plates of lathes used by for instance 
VTMC.

But my impression is not good. The spring barrel-like structure below the top 
plate would be much too weak to be able to carry a 5" radius (half of a 10 
inch record) past a cutting stylus when cutting. For cutting records you need 
a lathe construction, and that was a well-known general mechanical 
construction when Mr. Nordskog Sen. presumedly constructed this. For 
cylinders you could essentially copy an ordinary lathe and for discs you 
would copy a vertical lathe. There is no reason why a feedscrew could not be 
built in and linked by cogwheels, chain drive, or belt drive like ordinary 
lathes to do the job: an ordinary threaded rod would do and either a nut sawn 
through, lubricated and weighted (so that the half-nut would not be lifted up 
by the threads) would not be beyond somebody who was already putting a 
turntable on a bearing. You would definitely be able to use a reproducing 
soundbox as a recording soundbox, but there would be heavy low frequency 
resonances. The big record companies had done a lot of experimenting before 
they got to where they were in the early 1920s.

According to Sutton and Nauck the quality of the records was not good, but 
from a research point of view they might be ideal. These records would be a 
much better source for evaluating the construction than this image, which I 
do not believe in. I am, obviously, open to any kind of evidence to the 
contrary.

Kind regards,


George


Martin Fisher wrote:
> So I'm stuck in the past and just can't get out.
> 
> A few observations and questions regarding Arne Nordskog's disc lathe. 
> The
> references I've found so far state that the lathe was "driven by hand"
> which
> would seem to indicate that the TURNTABLE PLATTER was turned manually by
> crank as the cutting was done.  The two pictures I've located only give a
> top view from the front and right side.  These are the low resolution
> picture on the First Cask website
> http://firstcask.blogspot.com/search?q=nordskog and the picture on page 18
> of Floyd Levin's "Classic Jazz" book, available on Google Books.
> 
> These photos lead me to believe that the only "hand driven" portion of the
> lathe is the feed screw.  There is clearly a front wound spring motor
> present which probably drives the turntable.  A rudimentary crank is
> cobbled
> up on the right side which is most likely a manulal drive for the feed
> screw.  Without bottom photos it's a guess as to the linkage but it's
> relatively easy to figure the possibilities.
> 
> Are there any other clear photos of the lathe that would offer other clues
> or allow one to see fine details.  Looks to me like the
> reproducer/recorder
> is a Cheney vertical that was fitted for lateral cutting at an almost or
> perfect 90 degree angle to the surface.  And check out the tracking angle!
> Must be at least a three inch overhang.  Was this common??
> 
> Martin Fisher