Kate Agnew with the Type 612 Disk Mastering LatheAgnew Analog Type 602 Cutter Head in actionAgnew Analog Type 612 Disk Mastering LatheScreen Printed Record Artwork
Some people bring their floaties to the beach... We brought the Agnew Analog Type 612 Disk Mastering Lathe!
When J. I. Agnew was asked to speak at the PHILOS 2025 academic conference, with the team cutting records at the event, the first question was "is there access for heavy machinery at the venue?". The answer was clearly no, but we did it anyway!
Usually, when planning to transport and set up a massive disk mastering lathe, most people in their right mind would plan for at least a week or two, to do everything properly. We set it all up in a few hours.
Driving a 33 ft (10 m) long GMC V8 powered truck and tandem axle trailer combination, 6 hours from the Agnew Analog headquarters in Halkidiki, to the Deep South of Greece... Cranes, rigging, wrangling heavy industrial equipment into spaces that were never intended to host them, ensuring no damage to persons or property occur in the process! The beginnings of an epic journey across the birthplace of philosophy, to broaden its horizons in ways never before attempted.
An international group of slightly eccentric academics and our team combined intelligence, technical expertise, ambition and stoicism, defying the impossible to push the boundaries to regions heretofore unsurveyed by civilized man.
Trigger Warning: May contain traces of vinyl records, long words you may need to look up in a dictionary and fresh seafood.
Arriving at the Negroponte Resort in EretriaTruck and TrailerTruck and trailer outside the venueFlight Cases in TrailerV8 Powered GMC TruckHalkida Bridge
We set up the lathe just a few meters from one of the loveliest sandy beaches ever, with impressively big fish swimming all around us in the clear emerald waters, at the five-star Negroponte Resort, near Eretria. We cut 25 lacquer master copies of a piece composed by Greek experimental music artist, Pol Potter, which were packaged with custom screen printed and embossed inserts and sold during the event. Needless to say, they all sold out immediately, but there are plans of making more copies on plastic disks.
The composition was an experimental piece consisting of field recordings of the presentations by various professors from all around the world, heavily processed and distorted, along with soundscapes and effects. The whole concept was certainly pushing the boundaries of what can be considered "normal" at an academic conference.
As the conference organization team puts it, "The aim of the PHILOS Colloquium is to consolidate and further develop ongoing efforts to advance a philosophical approach to organization studies. [...] PHILOS is affiliated with the International Symposium on Process Organization Studies (PROS)."
Boats at SunsetStatue of AristotleThe sea at nightGrilled ShrimpJ. I. Agnew enjoying a breakKate Agnew with AristotleBoats at SunsetCheese-filled Zucchini BlossomsGrilled OctopusAncient Minoan SaladAristotle next to a sunflower patchCooling down in the seaCorridor to the seaThe view right outside the hotel roomsHotel RoomsThe truck and trailer loading inLoading inTruck and trailer at Agnew Analog HQ
Combining hard work with fine gastronomy, stunning surroundings and precious moments of aquatic ecosystem appreciation, our journey to analog perfection at the epicenter of philosophy was hugely satisfying. We have, quite literally, taken disk mastering lathes to places they have never been before.
Kate Agnew by the sea
The Type 612 disk mastering lathe is versatile, reliable, easy to set up and capable of the finest quality attainable to date on the disk medium. Apart from this event being a fascinating artistic concept, this was also a very public demonstration in front of a large audience, of the Type 612 lathe's ability to be transported and rapidly set up to cut records in spaces that are very far from ideal, cutting music that would blow up most other cutter heads, all day long, and then rapidly packed away again.
J. I. Agnew and Kostas Stamatakos with the latheKostas Stamatakos with the latheAgnew Analog Type 612 Disk Mastering Lathe in actionThe porthole window on the lathe cabinetCutting records by the seaKate Agnew sticking labels on the recordsFisheye view of the lathe in the venueFisheye view of the lathe by the seaFinished productSide B labelsSide A labelsPackaging StationScreen Printed ArtworkTruck and trailer arriving at the venueKate Agnew holding a lacquer diskBlank disk awaiting to be cut
Stay tuned for more exciting things we have planned for the near future. In the meantime, the Type 612 Disk Mastering Lathe and Type 602 Stereophonic Cutter Head are available to purchase so you can cut your own records. To fulfill the skyrocketing demand, the Type 612 is now also being manufactured in Scotland by Glasgow Analog. Contact us to place an order.
