cheapskate tonearm

[staggerlee]

I'm an audiophile on a budget, and as such, I'm building a turntable out of parts from a decrepit old r-o-k. the bearings and motor are in good shape though.

I am, however in serious need for a tonearm. my plan is to use a grado green cartridge with it. What should I be looking for on ebay that is of good value. or maybe I should be building one from scratch, if it's something I could handle.

Danke!

[owen]

Build your self a Laadegard arm - if you can get some CF kite spar, you'll have a budget winner that will take a lot of money to beat


Owen

[moray james]

You can search on this forum for simple unipovit arms that can be built in a few hours and cost as little as a few dollars. Looks and price aside these simple but thoughtfully designed arms can perform very well as builders here will confirm. This will give you a taste of unipovit arms and give you something to enjoy from your own hands while you plan out further projects. Good luck and have fun. Regards Moray James.

[moray james]

a continuation of DIY TT bearing...But now Tonearms!

[Nanook]

Build my $2.19 tonearm (ok in USD it's $1.50). If I can do it anybody can..

a worn out "practice" arrow from a local Archery range
a 3/16 pipe plug
a piece of wood , or acrylic, or aluminum
an old turntable counter weight, or similar
an old ball point pen
some light machine oil
a small piece of wood
an old wire type mouse or "ear pods", for the wire
epoxy or jb weld

12" inches of bliss

[rcavictim]

Has anyone here thought of or actually tried to use the magnetic bearing assembly taken from an old utility power consumption meter that you see on the side of every building at the service entrance? In these the Faraday disc motor that spins slowly and drives a clockwork counter mechanizm is floating on two magnetic bearings, one at each end of the shaft.

[moray james]

you're elected. We will need pics of the parts and a photo spread of the demolition of the unit to extract magnets would be nice. Then full design data as well as results of all prototypes up to production unit in setp by step hi rez pics.
Sounds like a very interesting idea perhapss the idea for magnetic antiskate could also ber incorporated? I think the fellow who figured that out is from Italy or Switzerland? Not too sure.
Has anybody built an arm with magnets that repel Vs attract like the Schroder? There are also very powerful magnets inside of old microwave oven magnetrons and sites to show you how to extract them.
What about a magnetic repulsion version of a linear tracking arm with neo magnets to act as a zero friction slide rather than an air bearing? Using oposing pole nested ring magnets?
Always liked the thread suspension of the Well Tempered arm as there is zero need for much if any precission anywhere in the arm it's all dialed in at the pivot point with the thread suspension. Clever. Ran out of fresh ideas probably nothing new at all knowing the expert guys that spend their time here. Have fun regards Moray James.

[maxro]

Repelling magnets exhibit rather chaotic behaviour. Have you ever tried to hover one magnet above another? It can't really be done without some sort of guide (ie ring magnets on a pencil). I think it best not to go down mag-lev avenue when thinking tonearms.

Max

[moray james]

magnetic arm bearing. http://www.musicallife.de/

[maxro]

I don't see any repelling magnets. It looks like a ball bearing hanging from a cylindrical magnet, or a magnetic ball hanging from a bolt, or a magnetic ball hanging from a magnet. At any rate, these magnets are working under attraction, not repulsion. Does look like a rather elegant solution, though. Its aesthetics certainly smack of Schroeder.

max