FF Records is still active and will soon be celebrating 10 years of lathe cutting service.  All prices and info listed on this page are accurate as of 3/7/2023.

All lathe cut records are hand made and packed in clear plastic sleeves for protection.
All records are clear, I cannot offer any color options.
All cuts are mono. The lathes I use are from the pre-stereo era.
All cuts are made at 33 1/3 RPM unless explicitly requested.
All records come with an FF Records info card.
I do not produce packaging or jackets.
No Minimums.
Time limits are as follows:
5″ – 1.5 mins per side
7″ – 6 mins per side
10″ – 12 mins per side
12″ – 17 mins per side

Standard turnaround is currently about 12 weeks from payment received.
Rush turnaround (about 4 weeks) can be arranged but will incur a 25% rush charge added to the order total.

No racist or homophobic material.

PRICING:

Current Special:
30 single-sided or 20 double-sided 7″ lathe cut records for $120
This special does not include labels.

Labels are $1 per record with a $5 minimum charge. Labels are completely optional.
Designs can be full color and should be minimum 1050×1050 pixels.

Single-Sided 5″ lathe cut records:
1-9: $5
10-19: $4.50
20-34: $4
35-49: $3.50
50+: $3

Double-Sided 5″ lathe cut records:
1-9: $6.50
10-19: $6
20-34: $5.50
35-49: $5
50+: $4.50

Single-sided 7″ lathe cut records:
1-9: $5.50
10-19: $5.00
20-34: $4.50
35-49: $4
50+: $3.50

Double-sided 7″ lathe cut records:
1-9: $8
10-19: $7.25
20-34: $6.50
35-49: $5.75
50+: $5

Single-sided 10″ lathe cut records:
$12/piece
10+: $10
20+: $8

Double-sided 10″ lathe cut records:
$15/piece
10+: $12
20+: $10

Single-sided 12″ lathe cut records
$15/piece
10+: $12
20+: $10

Double-sided 12″ lathe cut records
$20/piece
10+: $15
20+: $12

To place an order contact me at ethan [at] funkyfrankenstein.com
Thank you for considering FF Records for your lathe cutting needs.

What are lathe cut records?

In a nutshell:
Lathe Cutting is a process which utilizes a sharp cutting stylus to engrave or emboss sound grooves onto a disk.  Lathe cut records are an alternative to the modern practice of pressing records with metal plates.  In lathe cutting a voice coil is used to drive a needle which cuts the sound waves into the revolving disk beneath it.  This method has long been used for producing lacquer masters, which are then used to make metal plates for pressing.  Most of the machines used for this purpose were manufactured pre-1960. In more recent years many people (myself included) have begun experimenting with utilizing these machines to produce limited edition, unique records out of unorthodox materials such as picnic plates and plastic disks. Because the grooves are cut rather than pressed the resulting grooves have slightly less depth than traditional pressed records, meaning the volume level is slightly decreased when compared to pressed records. However the sound quality is generally complimented as being very good for a lo-fi product.

For more in-depth information regarding lathe cutting I encourage you to check out the Lathe Trolls Forums. They possess an incredible wealth of information regarding mastering proper, experimental endeavors and everywhere in between.