diskcutting (8)

 New Hydrodynamic Oil-bath Bearing Units Available Now!

For many long years, J. I. Agnew has been examining, adjusting, repairing and replacing bearing systems of all kinds, from disk recording lathes and turntables to tape machines, high precision machine tools, measurement instruments, industrial equipment and all manners of motor vehicles, from passenger cars to heavy trucks. Over the past few years, he has designed and machined countless bearing units to replace worn or damaged units on a diverse range of disk recording lathes and machine tools. Valuable experience was gained, which along with his solid engineering background, was put to good use in improving his designs further and further, up until the current stage of development was reached.

[MISSING TRANSLATION] J. I. Agnew

New Series 6100 Vacuum Platters

The ultimate vacuum platter is finally here, and it is very reasonably priced. After three years of exhaustive research and development and several prototypes of different versions, along with field testing, we have finally arrived at what we believe is the most advanced and accurate vacuum platter ever made.



Available in 14" and 12" versions, our Type 6114 and Type 6112 Reference Instruments are now available to order, in any quantity. Do you want 100 of them? We'll make them, and threw in a quantity discount as well!

[MISSING TRANSLATION] J. I. Agnew

A Fashionable Rek-O-Kut Lathe Cabinet

Have you ever noticed the total absence of audio equipment from the luxury houses presented in glossy architecture and interior design magazines? It makes the inhabitants of such property come across as rather uncultured.

In fact, not only is an audiophile grade sound system a minimum requirement for the home of anyone affluent enough to hire an interior designer, but it is important to choose a designer who can appreciate the aura of sophistication and intellect projected by a beautifully restored vintage disk recording lathe, set in a handcrafted custom cabinet, in a conspicuous corner of the living room!

[MISSING TRANSLATION] J. I. Agnew

The Stylish Stylus Tool

Requests for a stylus tool kept on coming in, so we decided to design and manufacture them! We call it the Agnew Analog Reference Instruments Type 6019 and it is now available for sale.

Stylus tool safely holding the ruby cutting stylus

[MISSING TRANSLATION] J. I. Agnew

Lab Report: Type 710 Pre-Emphasis Module Prototype

We are excited to announce that we have just finished assembling and testing the first prototype of the Agnew Analog Reference Instruments Type 710 Disk Recording Pre-Emphasis and Cutter Head Protection Module!

[MISSING TRANSLATION] J. I. Agnew

Lab Report: Cutter Head Mounting Adapters

In the previous episode, we had a look at taper shank stylus adapters and saw a vintage magnetic monophonic cutter head fitted to the AM44 lathe. The two are not normally compatible. Neumann lathe suspensions do not have the same mount as the suspensions of Presto, Fairchild, RCA and other lathes of the monophonic era, which were originally designed to accept such cutter heads.

But, in fact, almost any cutter head can be fitted to any lathe, as long as there is enough space for it to physically fit, by means of a suitable adapter. The eagle-eyed reader will probably have noticed that the cutter head mount on our prototype AM44 suspension is similar to, but not the same as, the mount used in Neumann suspension boxes. So, the adapter shown here was made specifically for our AM44 suspension unit.

[MISSING TRANSLATION] J. I. Agnew

Extensive Disk Recording Lathe Modifications: Fairchild Model 199 converted to Stereo with Caruso Feedback Cutter Head!

Back in 2015, we started a big lathe project, taking a beat-up Fairchild lathe from the 1930's, fitting it with an RCA cutter head, and eventually going full-on with a stereophonic feedback cutter head, vacuum clamp-down platter and automatically variable pitch.

[MISSING TRANSLATION] J. I. Agnew

Cutting Master Lacquer Disks for the Naxatras Debut LP on the AM44 system, directly from Analog Tape

John Delias, the guitar wizard of the popular rock group "Naxatras", filmed J. I. Agnew while cutting the master lacquer disks, from which the vinyl records of their debut LP were manufactured, at Magnetic Fidelity, and edited the footage to produce this short informative video, offering an insight into this seldom seen, mysterious process.

[MISSING TRANSLATION] J. I. Agnew