Collective knowledge…let’s pool our brains

[Eggzy]

Collective knowledge…let’s pool our brains; I don’t have money to throw away! I’m building a unipivot tonearm.

Somewhere there’s a cheap camera part for a few quid…somewhere else a part of an ornament from the pound shop which makes a perfect counterbalance, somewhere a 50p toy car with the perfect Allen bolts and metal plate, and the thick cap off a shampoo bottle [Sainsburys crème bath thick plastic cap makes a great “bell housing” for the unipivot arm!]
…plus other dirt cheap bits & pieces here and there.
After some modifications-and put together you literally, yes literally! have a beautiful £2,000 unipivot tonearm for about, say £20 max.

So far I’ve made a lovely “swivellable” headshell from scrap aluminium offcuts , I’ve salvaged Litz type 99.99999999999999999999999999999999 blah blah blah OFC super fine tonearm wire from a pair of cheapo earphones.
Off cuts of 10mm thick Perspex will make other parts and an arm base.
I got 10 lengths of alloy tubing off ebay for a tenner for the tonearm, [maybe a bit too wide though.]

But where are all these cheap parts? They are certainly out there!

Collective knowledge, brain-racking and DIYAUDIO collectiveness has the answer to truly affordable high-end HI-FI. In this case a fantastic unipivot tonearm that we can ALL truly afford!
If we pool our knowledge database we can make super stuff for peanuts and live up to the “DIY”AUDIO name.

Or would you rather pay through the nose and be a hi-fi snob? Yuk!

So my first question; looking for about max 10mm diameter alloy/carbon fibre/other material for tubing. What can I rip that from? A peashooter? A cheapo carboot sale stack system tonearm?


Stay tooned

[pinkmouse]

Originally posted by Eggzy
So my first question; looking for about max 10mm diameter alloy/carbon fibre/other material for tubing. What can I rip that from? A peashooter? A cheapo carboot sale stack system tonearm?

What about a broken fishing rod?

[Eggzy]

pinky

is a fishing rod tubular?

[pinkmouse]

The ones I've seen have been, but then again, having been a veggie for the past 15 years or so, my knowledge of fishing may not be totally up to date.

[jneutron]

Try an arrow shaft.

John

[sreten]

Hi,

I'd visit an aircraft / boat modelling parts / materials shop.

What they could use for the main mast of model boats has got to be it.

/sreten.

[Variac]

The arrow shaft seems the best start. Some of them are really sophisticated. Carbon, tempered alu, etc..

[DigitalJunkie]

Why not wood?

A couple years ago I remember seeing a writeup about an 'on the cheap' DIY turntable,and they said that they tried various types of wood for teh tone arm,and found a couple to be pretty good.
You can get various pieces of Balsa at the hobby stores,perhaps pine aswell (one or two shops around here have both) Along with metal rods,tubes,and various things.
Don't forget about the parts for model and RC cars also.. There are lots of neat bearings,bushings,CV joints,linkages,swively things,motors,etc,etc.

[dnsey]

Great post - potenetial for a sticky perhaps?
For the armtube I'd also go with the fishing rod - I have one which I've thought of using, but never got round to it. The great thing is that it's tapered too.
BTW, I've discovered that fishing shops sell great 'mic stands' - telescopic alumunium poles, intended for resting your fishing rod on, I think. They just need a base to make a perfect stand.

[gl]

FWIW the first time I set eyes on a Nottingham tone arm shaft I immediately thought that it reminded me of a piece of tubing cut from a fishing rod.

Cheers,
Graeme