Thanks Paul,
How is your 301 (or was it a 401) going these days ??
I recently bought one of these off Ebay so another arm is probably on the cards ....... of course I know that I could in theory put any arm with this one since it does'nt have the same constraints viz-a-viz the platter height but truth to tell, I've caught the contructors bug
Any thoughts on making your own arm Paul ???
Mike
How is your 301 (or was it a 401) going these days ??
I recently bought one of these off Ebay so another arm is probably on the cards ....... of course I know that I could in theory put any arm with this one since it does'nt have the same constraints viz-a-viz the platter height but truth to tell, I've caught the contructors bug
Any thoughts on making your own arm Paul ???
Mike
Very nice work indeed, congrats Mike!
I like the idea to make a wooden arm from pieces, to solve the wire channel problem. Another point I was always curious about, is a connection between wooden part and metal tube-like rear piece. Did you managed to make firm contact, independing of humidity variations, with no glue? Can you elaborate?
Rgs,
Michael
I like the idea to make a wooden arm from pieces, to solve the wire channel problem. Another point I was always curious about, is a connection between wooden part and metal tube-like rear piece. Did you managed to make firm contact, independing of humidity variations, with no glue? Can you elaborate?
Rgs,
Michael
The 401 is still going strong but is in need of some TLC. We are about to move into our own house after years of renting and there is a brick outbuilding that would make a very nice workshop so a small lathe and milling machine is on the cards. How accurate do you find the Unimat?
I have a RB300 armtube from a damaged arm that I intend playing with someday....new bearing housing with wide spaced bearings, nothing trivial!!
The 401 is in need of cosmetic work mainly, when we have moved I will strip it down and start work. I have a DIY table and a Technics SL150 to tide me over.....collecting TT's is rather addictive isn't it!!
Paul.
I have a RB300 armtube from a damaged arm that I intend playing with someday....new bearing housing with wide spaced bearings, nothing trivial!!
The 401 is in need of cosmetic work mainly, when we have moved I will strip it down and start work. I have a DIY table and a Technics SL150 to tide me over.....collecting TT's is rather addictive isn't it!!
Paul.
livemusic said:
Thanks Michael,
Yes, The four part arm wand is a good solution, I was very grateful to the kind gentleman who donated it to me.
The sleeve at the back of the arm was oddly the most trouble to machine as I had to turn it down from a piece that was over 25mm in diameter originally, the hole through the 'middle' was done on another lathe prior to machining, unfortunately just off-centre so it is not quite the same thickness all round (but not so much that you would notice).
Having said all that, I had it drilled out to the same diameter as the wooden end of the arm so that I could have an 'interference' fit (after some light sanding on the wood), it was already quite tight to get it over the wood but I applied some locktite during assembly just to make sure it didnt move afterwards.
Cheers
Mike
Nice one Paul, I had many a happy hour on the Unimat !!Paul Dimaline said:
Actually there is a fair amount on end-float on the cross-slide but you get used to it, I tended to do rather a lot of fine turning and lots of checking ... but you can make it work OK. Its worth keeping an eye open for an earlier version (Unimat 3) or there is also a Unimat PC (I think) that looks good too. My Unimat was made under license in Taiwan I believe and is reasonable but not terrific.
There is also a company in Chester called (oddly enough) Chester UK Ltd who distribute a large number of models. To be honest, I did'nt research the market very well when I bought the Unimat, if I had the choice now, I would probably have bought something else with cheaper accessories.
Good luck with that one, I hear good things about the RB300, who knows, we might be seeing the RB300PD (Paul Dimaline) variant someday
You betcha, I've already got two, with the GL88 waiting in the wings, now I just need a room to house them all
All the Best Paul
Mike
DIY Schroeder tone arm
Hi cv & all
I'll make you happy! It does NOT take hours and hours to drill through a neodymium magnet! I do this amost every day. If it has to be deadcentre, you need a lathe. If you are confident of marking the hole position and it has to be deadcentre, the best powertool would be either a multispeed drill fitted to a drill press or otherwise, even better, a powerful rechargeable set on its SLOWEST speed to avoid generating heat during drilling. You also need a fast evaporating drilling lubricant/cooling agent during drilling.
The last bit you need, woud be a tunsten carbide longshank 3 or 4 flute milling cutter of whatever dia your hole must be. To drill 1mm through say, 5mm neodymium, takes only about 3 minutes.
Be careful, these magnets are very brittle.
Happy drilling.
BTW, I have been eyeballing various rollerballs from deodorant bottles as arm pivots. These will obviously need stabilising ....
bulgin
Hi cv & all
I'll make you happy! It does NOT take hours and hours to drill through a neodymium magnet! I do this amost every day. If it has to be deadcentre, you need a lathe. If you are confident of marking the hole position and it has to be deadcentre, the best powertool would be either a multispeed drill fitted to a drill press or otherwise, even better, a powerful rechargeable set on its SLOWEST speed to avoid generating heat during drilling. You also need a fast evaporating drilling lubricant/cooling agent during drilling.
The last bit you need, woud be a tunsten carbide longshank 3 or 4 flute milling cutter of whatever dia your hole must be. To drill 1mm through say, 5mm neodymium, takes only about 3 minutes.
Be careful, these magnets are very brittle.
Happy drilling.
BTW, I have been eyeballing various rollerballs from deodorant bottles as arm pivots. These will obviously need stabilising ....
bulgin
DIY Schroeder tone arm
Hi Everyone
I've had a chance today to read the entire thread.
Firstly let me propose a 'salut!' to berlinta. I find it quite remarkable for a talented designer to offer such gracious response and useful tips to diy'ers who have ambitions to make their own tonearms. He is absolutely right, referring to patentlaw just in case an errant soul decides to copy and manufacture for profit.
Being a designer of almost any commodity for which you have hopes to earn a living from, can be one of the most solitary activities anyone can venture into. Only the most disciplined, skilled and dedicated will see such a project through to the end.
The pitfalls and especially obstructionist suppliers of outside services or components are many. Especially when it comes to vinyl replay instruments. Design and patent law(yers) is another story.
@ drilling of neodymium magnets. Yes, magnetic swarf is a problem as it gets in the way while drilling. A simple remedy is to use a blob of plasticine (kids' modelling clay) and just dab the stuf away. You can also use a 'dusting' tool fitted to an airline from a compressor, but NOT near the lathe's chuck.
bugin
Hi Everyone
I've had a chance today to read the entire thread.
Firstly let me propose a 'salut!' to berlinta. I find it quite remarkable for a talented designer to offer such gracious response and useful tips to diy'ers who have ambitions to make their own tonearms. He is absolutely right, referring to patentlaw just in case an errant soul decides to copy and manufacture for profit.
Being a designer of almost any commodity for which you have hopes to earn a living from, can be one of the most solitary activities anyone can venture into. Only the most disciplined, skilled and dedicated will see such a project through to the end.
The pitfalls and especially obstructionist suppliers of outside services or components are many. Especially when it comes to vinyl replay instruments. Design and patent law(yers) is another story.
@ drilling of neodymium magnets. Yes, magnetic swarf is a problem as it gets in the way while drilling. A simple remedy is to use a blob of plasticine (kids' modelling clay) and just dab the stuf away. You can also use a 'dusting' tool fitted to an airline from a compressor, but NOT near the lathe's chuck.
bugin
Nice url to see very detailled pictures of the real Schroeder, just press 'Photos':
http://www.schroeder-tonarme.de/index1101381377.html
http://www.schroeder-tonarme.de/index1101381377.html
Schroeder US patent
The Frank Schroeder tonearm patent was finally granted in the US in Oct 2006.
See below for link to the USPTO website.
You can view the pages of the patent one by one by clicking on the "Images" tab at the bottom of the page, though you have to download a plug-in called alternatiff for this option.
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-...50&s1=7086071.PN.&OS=PN/7086071&RS=PN/7086071
The Frank Schroeder tonearm patent was finally granted in the US in Oct 2006.
See below for link to the USPTO website.
You can view the pages of the patent one by one by clicking on the "Images" tab at the bottom of the page, though you have to download a plug-in called alternatiff for this option.
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-...50&s1=7086071.PN.&OS=PN/7086071&RS=PN/7086071
just another Schroeder clone?
Hello!
Thanks to all discussing in detail and very substantiated about DIY Schroeder Tonearm. It was also your input, which helped to realize - after a year of unregular research, testing and build - my first DIY-Tonearm also making use of the Schroeder bearing.
If you want to have a look at the complete history and the final product, you might visit my homepage at
http://www.frank-landmesser.de/bau_tonarm.html
which is unfortunately only in German but on the other hand well pictured.
Greetings,
Frank
Hello!
Thanks to all discussing in detail and very substantiated about DIY Schroeder Tonearm. It was also your input, which helped to realize - after a year of unregular research, testing and build - my first DIY-Tonearm also making use of the Schroeder bearing.
If you want to have a look at the complete history and the final product, you might visit my homepage at
http://www.frank-landmesser.de/bau_tonarm.html
which is unfortunately only in German but on the other hand well pictured.
Greetings,
Frank
Linked from your WEB site I found this so-called DIY site, which at a first glance appears to be selling a Schroeder clone?
http://www.musicallife.de/index.php...r_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=6&lang=en
I wonder whether this has been authorised by Frank Schroeder and - if not - whether this would not be an infringement of his patent rights
http://www.musicallife.de/index.php...r_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=6&lang=en
I wonder whether this has been authorised by Frank Schroeder and - if not - whether this would not be an infringement of his patent rights
Hello MRupp,
The company Musical Life is not authorized to produce any "clones" of my arm, in fact, Mr. Fuchs(now affiliated with Musical Life) who is the "designer" of the magnetized ball bearing arm first sold very poor copies of a Reference arm via a german sales platform until I had to put an end to it.
Their current top arm utilizes a principle that was designed and briefly persued by the late Thomas Scheu and Dr. Feikert, then abandoned due to several serious flaws.
Since I didn't patent/register all of the design features - I didn't think of the headshell (and the overall appearance, worth a "Geschmacksmuster"), duh.. - it has been copied by Clearaudio and now Musical Life.
Although I admire Frank's efforts and understand that he is proud of his achievements, the link to Musical Life and the publication of construction drawings are not to my liking and I do consider having them withdrawn, in fact I will be kindly asking him to do just that.
And lastly, an arm built as per the drawing on Frank's page will exhibit unexceptably large changes in tracking force when one changes VTA.
But, most importantly, he likes it better than his previous(commercial) arm
Greetings from Berlin,
Frank Schröder
p.s.: Starting tomorrow, I'll be attending the Munich HighEnd Show, so should there be any questions around this topic, please wait until I'm back(22nd)
The company Musical Life is not authorized to produce any "clones" of my arm, in fact, Mr. Fuchs(now affiliated with Musical Life) who is the "designer" of the magnetized ball bearing arm first sold very poor copies of a Reference arm via a german sales platform until I had to put an end to it.
Their current top arm utilizes a principle that was designed and briefly persued by the late Thomas Scheu and Dr. Feikert, then abandoned due to several serious flaws.
Since I didn't patent/register all of the design features - I didn't think of the headshell (and the overall appearance, worth a "Geschmacksmuster"), duh.. - it has been copied by Clearaudio and now Musical Life.
Although I admire Frank's efforts and understand that he is proud of his achievements, the link to Musical Life and the publication of construction drawings are not to my liking and I do consider having them withdrawn, in fact I will be kindly asking him to do just that.
And lastly, an arm built as per the drawing on Frank's page will exhibit unexceptably large changes in tracking force when one changes VTA.
But, most importantly, he likes it better than his previous(commercial) arm
Greetings from Berlin,
Frank Schröder
p.s.: Starting tomorrow, I'll be attending the Munich HighEnd Show, so should there be any questions around this topic, please wait until I'm back(22nd)
Hello,
thanks for making that clear. Do you mean Walter Fuchs?
If VTF depends on VTA then warped records vary VTF (heavily!). This is the same behaviour as my first attempt to build a Schroeder clone showed. I had the opportunity to talk to Frank some time ago about this problem. He explained a bit and now I know that it is not easy if not impossible to make a Schroeder clone. We read a lot about Schroeder clones; I would rather call them tonearms inspired by the Schroeder design.
Cheers
Christian
Edit: I looked at the pictures on mclandys website and noticed that essential parts of the bearing are missing, not to speak about the geometry.
thanks for making that clear. Do you mean Walter Fuchs?
If VTF depends on VTA then warped records vary VTF (heavily!). This is the same behaviour as my first attempt to build a Schroeder clone showed. I had the opportunity to talk to Frank some time ago about this problem. He explained a bit and now I know that it is not easy if not impossible to make a Schroeder clone. We read a lot about Schroeder clones; I would rather call them tonearms inspired by the Schroeder design.
Cheers
Christian
Edit: I looked at the pictures on mclandys website and noticed that essential parts of the bearing are missing, not to speak about the geometry.
