Hello All,
In this post I'll attach an isometric view of the 2010 version of my Tone Arm.
Also attached is a picture of some of the new parts I've made. The single carbon fiber arm tube shown, has been replaced with dual carbon fiber arm tubes. I've always liked the "Orsonic" head shell and so it seemed natural to switch to dual arm tubes, to take advantage of that design.
Sincerely,
Ralf
In this post I'll attach an isometric view of the 2010 version of my Tone Arm.
Also attached is a picture of some of the new parts I've made. The single carbon fiber arm tube shown, has been replaced with dual carbon fiber arm tubes. I've always liked the "Orsonic" head shell and so it seemed natural to switch to dual arm tubes, to take advantage of that design.
Sincerely,
Ralf
Attachments
Glad to see it's not been abandoned. I hope this gets off the ground, it's mentioned it in a (similar) thread over here.
Linear tracking tonearm/s - have you tried one? (page 2) - Tonearms - Lenco Heaven Turntable Forum
All the best regardless,
Nathan
Linear tracking tonearm/s - have you tried one? (page 2) - Tonearms - Lenco Heaven Turntable Forum
All the best regardless,
Nathan
Ralf, that original prototype is one seriously cool arm design. Can't wait to see the new iteration.. The CD took a lot of us by surprise or not.. I still remember how disappointed I was with their sound, come to think of it I'd probably still say the same thing today.. 
Good luck.. And I hope maybe you will offer a kit of parts in the future for this or your older design..
Good luck.. And I hope maybe you will offer a kit of parts in the future for this or your older design..
Thank you Kevinkr.
The principle upon which my tone arm is based is very simple, but turning that idea into an easily manufacturable product is difficult. But I am going to try.
Sincerely,
Ralf
Yes they are.
In the 2010 version of my tone arm, VTA / VRA will be adjustable without moving the bearings for vertical motion of the tone arm up or down. The National Association of Broadcasters ( NAB ) allows a maximum of 1/16" warp in an LP. So, if I had a turntable without vacuum, weights or rings to hold the LP flat, I would set the bearings 1/32" above the plane of the LP's surface to the average height of the maximum warp.
Sicerely,
Ralf
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Thank you.
Currently, I'm waiting for some carbon fiber tubing to come from Germany.
Next week I'll probably have some new photos of the latest stand of the 2010 version of my tone arm.
Sincerely,
Ralf
Very interesting design!
When you are ready to go into production (or need a couple prototypes) I have a great machine shop I work with who has VERY competitive pricing.
(I'm currently working on a conventional tonearm that is 14.215" long (effective) to reduce tracking error. I look at your original design because I have looked at older 'similar' ideas and they have been found to be rather difficulr to impliment due to the number of bearings required and the resultant bearing noise/slop/sticktion etc. (I do like those weird rotary spring things however)
From me: BEER=>
<=YOU
When you are ready to go into production (or need a couple prototypes) I have a great machine shop I work with who has VERY competitive pricing.
(I'm currently working on a conventional tonearm that is 14.215" long (effective) to reduce tracking error. I look at your original design because I have looked at older 'similar' ideas and they have been found to be rather difficulr to impliment due to the number of bearings required and the resultant bearing noise/slop/sticktion etc. (I do like those weird rotary spring things however)
From me: BEER=>
<=YOU What an ingenious and elegant design, Ralf. I'd expect that one day soon you might have such an arm for sale in the Music Direct catalog and/or other audiophile outlets.
Your thread here caught my eye as I'm in the process of building a tangential arm, but of the linear track design (servo operated and running on polished rods), roughly based on Rod Cooper's plans in the book "The LP Is Back!".
Your thread here caught my eye as I'm in the process of building a tangential arm, but of the linear track design (servo operated and running on polished rods), roughly based on Rod Cooper's plans in the book "The LP Is Back!".
Hello gninnam, kevinkr, lowpoke and Jim Leach
News, you ask? Actually I've been working on the parts almost every day.
I should have some photos next week or certainly the week after that.
My goal is to dynamically balance the arm. I went from brass to copper for the counterweight but couldn't get the center of gravity low enough without interfering with the base of the tone arm. I finally remembered machinable tungsten alloy which has a specific gravity of 18.5 grams per cubic centimeter. It took some time to find a supplier who would sell me a small quantity.
I do the necessary calculations in my CAD program so that I don't actually have to make experimental counterweights.
I did discover something though that everyone else probably already knows:
You can have a counterweight of a given mass 3" behind the tone arm pivot or you can have a counterweight of a greater mass 2" behind the tone arm pivot. the question is: how do you optimize that relationship?
Jim Leach, you're the first one to have discovered my use of "Free Flex Pivots" or weird rotary spring things as you call them.
I'm going to use them in my new Arm also. for both the horizontal and vertical bearings, four in all.
Sincerely,
Ralf
News, you ask? Actually I've been working on the parts almost every day.
I should have some photos next week or certainly the week after that.
My goal is to dynamically balance the arm. I went from brass to copper for the counterweight but couldn't get the center of gravity low enough without interfering with the base of the tone arm. I finally remembered machinable tungsten alloy which has a specific gravity of 18.5 grams per cubic centimeter. It took some time to find a supplier who would sell me a small quantity.
I do the necessary calculations in my CAD program so that I don't actually have to make experimental counterweights.
I did discover something though that everyone else probably already knows:
You can have a counterweight of a given mass 3" behind the tone arm pivot or you can have a counterweight of a greater mass 2" behind the tone arm pivot. the question is: how do you optimize that relationship?
Jim Leach, you're the first one to have discovered my use of "Free Flex Pivots" or weird rotary spring things as you call them.
I'm going to use them in my new Arm also. for both the horizontal and vertical bearings, four in all.
Sincerely,
Ralf
Hello popeetheus
Thanks for the kind words.
Hopefully you'll keep us informed as to your progress.
My original Arm was servo controlled. Both my original Arm and my new Arm run on polished 17-4 PH stainless steel rods.
I'm going to try operating my new Arm by the pulling friction between the stylus and the vinyl LP. I know that that will work. The question is: how accurately?
I allowed enough space in the base of my new tone arm to include the components of a servo in case the friction drive is not accurate.
Sincerely,
Ralf
Thanks for the kind words.
Hopefully you'll keep us informed as to your progress.
My original Arm was servo controlled. Both my original Arm and my new Arm run on polished 17-4 PH stainless steel rods.
I'm going to try operating my new Arm by the pulling friction between the stylus and the vinyl LP. I know that that will work. The question is: how accurately?
I allowed enough space in the base of my new tone arm to include the components of a servo in case the friction drive is not accurate.
Sincerely,
Ralf
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