[78-L] How a Columbia Record is Made (silently)

[Michael Biel]

On Thu, 2010-10-07 at 06:34 -1000, Malcolm Rockwell wrote:
>> I really dug the flute player with the shades on... in 1928! Crazy, man!
>> A close up of the cutting head would have been nice, but all in all very 
>> interesting.

From: Michael Shoshani <mshoshani at sbcglobal.net>
> By that time they were using WE equipment. They may not have had
> permission to show a close up due to patent constraints and such.

There are detailed still photographs of the WE rubber line head in many
publications.  
http://www.stokowski.org/images/Rubber_Line_Recorder.jpg 
http://www.stokowski.org/images/westrex_cutting_electrical_.jpg

> I'd love to see how spiral-outs and the eccentric groove were made.
> particularly whether the latter was cut or molded in. (This is a special
> curiosity of mine on Victor and HMV records from 1924 until the mid-30s
> or so, when the pair of eccentric grooves were different diameters
> depending on where the music ended.) MS

There is some info on these in the aforementioned diaries of Harry O.
Sooy.

http://www.davidsarnoff.org/sooyh-maintext1921.html

1922: "August 30th: Instructions were issued by Mr. Royal in accordance
with his desire to carry on some experiments to perfect an eccentric
groove at the finish of master records, connecting with the record
groove, for the purpose of operating an automatic brake. There were one,
two and as many as three grooves tried on a number of records, but two
grooves proved the best for various reasons, and were accepted as
satisfactory December 5, 1922.

"August 31st: After successful experiments with Eccentric Grooves, on
this date we discontinued putting the concentric groove at the finish of
the record spiral.

"December 2d: A problem confronted us as to just how we could put
eccentric grooves in the metal moulds and our stock matrices. The
Engineering Department was laying out a machine to do this work, but I,
being very much interested and anxious to (p. 95) see the work go thru,
also volunteered to carry on a line of experiments in an effort to
accomplish the company’s wishes. It was on January 29, 1923, we
submitted demonstrations whereby we could successfully take out the
concentric groove and put in the eccentric grooves. The method was
approved by Mr. Royal, and instructions issued for me to lay out
necessary machinery and have same built to do the eccentric groove work.
We started making the machinery for eccentric groove work January 30,
1923. (p. 96)

"May 1st, 1923: In a conference with Mr. Royal, instructions were issued
to proceed immediately to double the Red Seal Catalog, (that is,
double-face them) and equip them with Eccentric grooves. Red Seal work
was to precede Black Label class, which meant rolling Concentric groove
out of Master matrix, and Eccentric groove put in a shell of each
selection selected to be doubled, and give them new Catalog numbers. We
finished the Red Seal section of the Catalog during the week of November
19th, 1923."



Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com