Loricraft Record Cleaning

I haven't received my Loricraft yet. One thing I see the Monks has that the Loricraft doesn't is auto advancing thread that continuously keeps fresh thread under the suction point.

Does anyone think this is problematic, and has anyone come up with a mod that will accomplish a similar thing?

I suppose one could always just advance the thread a tiny bit manually as the arm sweeps across the LP.

I also understand that as of this month all units will have a bidirectional motor built in. Is this used just for the scrubbing phase, or does it come into play during the drying phase as well?

As I mentioned the purchase became a "now or never" proposition once I saw the price increase. I hadn't intended to spend this much, but of course right afterwards I saw a Keith Monks unit unit had come up for sale right here in NYC, with "local sale only". Now i wish I had seen ad that and jumped on it!

I suppose one could always just advance the thread a tiny bit manually as the arm sweeps across the LP.

Not really. The suction keeps the thread pinned between record surface and vacuum nipple, so if you untwist the spool to generate a little slack it doesn't get pulled up into the vacuum arm until the nipple clears the edge of the record. For this to work with the Monks it must actively pull the thread through. Just giving it a little slack wouldn't work.

OTOH, I don't think it's that big a deal either. Pulling a 1/4" of thread slack to refreshen it after each pass doesn't make my list of hardships! ;-)

I didn't think the Monks advances the thread while traversing the record, just for the start of a cycle.

A slight manual turn of the spool to advance the thread is not a big deal - simplicity is your friend. I do recommend O-rings on the spool spindle to hold the spool snug - it makes accurate thread advancement easier and avoids spool/thread runaway.

Tim

I also understand that as of this month all units will have a bidirectional motor built in. Is this used just for the scrubbing phase, or does it come into play during the drying phase as well?

Neither! ;-)

Loricraft added a bidirectional motor to meet customer requests, but I'm not sure how useful it will be.

The platter spins much too fast (75rpm+) for scrubbing. Offering birectional spin with a slow speed would have been useful, but at this speed it hardly matters.

Bidirectional spin probably serves no purpose at all when vacuuming. One way's as good as the other as far as I can see.

As Tim said, simplicity is a good thing. I don't even bother with O-rings on the spool spindle. Advancing the thread by PULLING on the thread while the nozzle is sucking air works perfectly. You control the amount of thread released and there's no thread fouling, which can happen if you twist the spool while the nozzle is down on the LP or the machine top plate. Less is more.

Doug

thread fouling, which can happen if you twist the spool while the nozzle is down on the LP or the machine top plate

Without O-rings on the spindle, the spool does turn freely and its easy for the thread to ravel off it or loop under the spool or otherwise foul. I think thats true however the thread is advanced. An index mark with a felt pen on one of the spool's spokes makes for an easy way to gauge the amount of thread played out. Turning the spool with the vacuum on, I get 8 passes out of one revolution of the spool. You could probably get more. Never thought to pull the thread at the nozzle with my fingers - if you choose that method, then yes, you need the spool to turn freely.

I have no idea if the PRC-3 offers improved cleaning with bidirectional rotation and a three position motor toggle. Sometimes I'll put the nozzle on the other side of the record so it runs outside in and I have no idea if that makes a difference vs inside out.

Tim