Thank you Brian! And everyone else for all the excellent feedback!
I’ve got G code (.nc file) of about 40 secs of audio ready to go. Ultimately, I’ll be putting 2-3 minutes of audio on each record.
Happy to pay anyone who is willing to help a newbie like me try this out!!
Will you be at the get-together tonight at ASMBLY at 7 PM? I’ll be there.
Using ncviewer load your file and take a screen shot of it, I’d like to see it
I am trying to upload an image but it looks like I don’t have permissions to embed videos right now - I’m new to this forum.
If you send me an email I can fwd! steven.c.parker@gmail.com
Sadly, I may be putting kids to bed tonight during the gathering….
Too bad the Maker Chip Challenge is over!
Oh, I agree. An audio encoding maker chip would be amazing 
@steveparker and I meet yesterday night at ASMBLY to chat and then run his “nc” GCODE on a test piece of plywood that he brought with him. We discussed what he was attempting - playable wood record. Several different attempts where done using his files - varying the V-Bit and its depth, etc. I’ll leave it to Steve to post a picture if he desires. We had a good time and I’d be happy to assist him with whatever upcoming experiments he proposes.
It was so great to meet you Brian! Thanks so much for your help!
I’ll post a pic and a video in a bit – when I got home I attempted playing it with a DIY victrola style needle, but it seems to be just noise at the moment and the needle is having trouble tracking the groove.
It may be that a laser approach is better or perhaps a different substrate – the plywood doesn’t seem to be the best choice…
Here are two resources I’ve been looking at:
Here’s a video of the first pass record and the original source recording: record experiments - Google Drive
Brian and I messed around with the laser with better results last night – here’s a sine wave test on MDF!
I would think that a harder and denser wood would give a better sound.
MDF has the advantage of not having grain direction as well. What about end grain or using a cookie?
For consistency, what about stabilizing the wood with an epoxy resin under pressure? That may prevent disruption from grain tear out.
Great ideas!
Ultimately, we’ll be using a live oak cookie, which we’ll kiln try and stabilize with epoxy. Don’t know how the epoxy vs wood will respond to laser but we’ll find out…
Or maybe just use a flat disc of vinyl!
This sounds like a cool project, I’m looking forward to seeing results! Epoxy is not approved for cutting on our lasers, so unfortunately it may require a different solution for lasers vs cnc if you need to stabilize the cookie.
Beat me to it by about 90 seconds! Thank you Julie.
Ah, good to know in advance! I’m sure my sensei Bri would have stopped me far in advance
@bwatt is two parts Master Po (Kung Fu tv series) and one part Yoda.