Newbie DIY tonearm question

[60goldtop]

Hi all. I have decided to build a Ladegaard air bearing tonearm for a Thorens TD-124. I came up with a couple ideas that I’d like opinions on. I have read numerous articles on this design and the only issue seems to be the air noise. My idea involves using two 12” long 1” square aquarium air stone diffusers mounted at a 45 degree angle to each other instead of the two lower pieces of aluminum angle. I would seal the sides, back surfaces, and the joint between the two stones with epoxy so that air would only be allowed to escape from the top surfaces. I would think that this would be a nearly completely diffused surface if it worked. Of course it may also be too diffused to allow adequate pressure to work. The rest of the design would remain.

The other idea is for the arm tube. I happen to be a tournament bass fisherman and I have a couple of broken high end casting rods laying around. They are Loomis GLX graphite which is very light and very strong. I thought that I could use a portion of the tapered butt-end for the arm tube. Since it’s tapered I could even cut the blank at a diameter that would be correct to install a detachable headshell socket.

Any opinions on either of these ideas would be appreciated. If these are stupid ideas, just tell me. You won’t hurt my feelings. I'm new to this and these are just a couple ideas that popped into my head.

[tinitus]

Airborne tangential arm is really special

But issues with noisy airpumps is really a pain
And it needs to be kept completely free of dust

I would suggest trying a simple unipivot arm
Many ways to do it
And lots of fun experiments possible

[tinitus]

If tangential is priority, this neat little Opus Cantus works without air support
Several ways to do that one too

[Geosto]

You cane not hear the noise from the arm if you are listen to the music.
even when between the numbers it is silent.
I can show mine it is placed on a Thorens TD160 MKII.
It works very well en sounds even better.


Regards George

[EC8010]

I like that - especially that you managed to use the original Thorens cueing device. Did you cut your sliding part from a section of square tubing?

[Geosto]

Thanks EC8010
Yes it is a square tube.
Ive done that to save some weight.
The total weight of the slider including the arm and cartridge is 85 gramme.
And by using the original arm lift its very easy to use.

Regards George

[EC8010]

Excellent stuff. Oddly, I have a small industrial pump that would do just nicely...