recording at home

[leoburdorf]

Hello,

I just bougt a recorder for my home phonograph. I thank Shane and others for advicing me how to fix the needlebar !! I had an old pathe brown wax cylinder with no noise or whatsoever on it. I cleaned it with terpentine. I tried to make a voice recording, but ..... when i lower the recorder completely, the stylus is shaving the cylinder rather then making grooves. When i do not lower the recorder completely i have a lot of background noise and a very little voice. Can anybody explain to me
- how far i have to lower the recorder.
- if one can use a brown wax pathe cylinder to record on it
- if blanks give normally a better result

Thanks for your advice

Leo

Attachments:

[edisonphonoworks]

You always check the clearance first, the floating part of the recorder should be able to be lifted off the blank, when the carrage is in the down position, to adjust to variations in the blank. The saphire should meet the surface of the blank at a slight downward angle, and make curly shavings. Make a horn about 25 inches long, and 3 or 4 inches at the bell, in a continious taper out of manilla envelopes glued together, you won't believe the quality of sound. Temperature of the blanks is extreamly important anything below 75 will yeald a weak and noisy recording, 80-100 degrees is the best, your box of blanks should have a 75 watt incadencant light bulb with reflector suspended about a foot above the box, you also should have another lamp about a foot behind the phonograph and keep the mandrel in constant motion, and seat the blank, and start recording, another phonograph if possible should be used to play the record back on, there is lots of tips on my website, on (recording reproducing and shaving cylinders) members.tripod.com/~edison_1/index.html I have 3 dozen blanks for sale at this time, however, not willing to ship overseas, Customs thinks they are pipe bombs and WILL confiscate or break them. I personally think, cylinders should be considered art treasures and the penalties for breaking them should be the same as defacing a monument!

[leoburdorf]

Thanks a lot for the advice !!!.
At least the sapphire is making little curls of wax and is not anymore making thick grooves in the wax.
I even heard the recorded voice (although still weak)
I shall follow now your instruction nr 2 and try to make a recording with a cylinder that has the right temperature

Thanks

Leo

[chuckrr]

Lesson Learned:

Just wanted to post this so that others can be warned:

If someone ever says to you in an email
"No good deed goes unpunished" :

That is a sign for you to demand pre-payment for any work
that you do for them.

Luckily, some time back, I deciphered this hint from someone
known to this forum, and saved myself the trouble of trying to
collect payment for services rendered.

Needless to say, that person never paid, and I have never heard
from that person again.

Just be careful who you help.

[maroongem]

Mar 30, 2011 16:13:12 GMT -5 chuckrr said:

Lesson Learned:

Just wanted to post this so that others can be warned:

If someone ever says to you in an email
"No good deed goes unpunished" :

That is a sign for you to demand pre-payment for any work
that you do for them.

Luckily, some time back, I deciphered this hint from someone
known to this forum, and saved myself the trouble of trying to
collect payment for services rendered.

Needless to say, that person never paid, and I have never heard
from that person again.

Just be careful who you help.

What, exactly, did this post have to do with the above?

Bill

[chuckrr]

What, exactly, did this post have to do with the above?

Bill [/quote]

The work I did was rebuilding a recorder.