I am currently getting one printed off. Will take some measurements and generally have a look at the resulting print.
If it's good, I will print a complete ball.
I'm no expert on this but wouldn't it be better to have the pivot point as close to the shaft as possible, lowering the mass of the ball below the needle? Think I read something about that somewhere, hmmmmmm
If it's good, I will print a complete ball.
I'm no expert on this but wouldn't it be better to have the pivot point as close to the shaft as possible, lowering the mass of the ball below the needle? Think I read something about that somewhere, hmmmmmm
What I learned about WTL clone tonearm build
Thanks for all the help I have received on this forum
The arm is working very well and has met my expectations.
BUT if I were to do it over, and I may try to make another arm, I would
make some changes.
The arm I made is 12" and about 20 grams. I tried to keep it on the light side. I think I should be using a med/low
compliance cartridge but what I have is a Shure m97ex. I know that with damping one can get away with a higher compliance cartridge but still
I think an Audio Technica or Denon would work better with this heavy arm.
My arm is Western Red Cedar but if people are using arrow shafts filled with
sand surely they don't come in under this weight.
Because of the weight and length of this arm I should have used heavy
silicone. Standard recommended is 100,000 cs. I used 75,000 but covered a good deal of the golf ball. To do it again I would use 125,000. One can
alway use less by using a stick to remove some fluid, but you can only
fill the cup so high.
The commercial maker says that the damping is not critical but I have not found this to be true. One must experiment. It is pretty easy to make one of these arms, but don't be fooled by those who say a couple hours and it is done. I know I have played with mine a great deal trying to improve it.
I used a tapered shot glass for the ball container. I used five 1 1/2" steel washers to bring the fluid level up. These are nice because of the hole in the middle so you can be sure that the ball will not touch the washer at any point. I still used 2 1/2 containers of silicone.
I suggest that you do not use pennies to build up the bottom surface of the container. I did so and they displaced themselves and it was tough to get them out and impossible to clean the fluid off of them. Silicone has to be one of the stickiest messiest substances on the planet. Do take care not to get any on the nylon strings or you will find it difficult to change azimuth.
I have not had problems with the azimuth changing. It has been very good from start to finish of an LP. I have not had problems with VTF changing either.
Highly recommended. This arm has been a great help in getting good sound out of a low cost cartridge/stylus and reducing sibilance!
Thanks for all the help I have received on this forum
The arm is working very well and has met my expectations.
BUT if I were to do it over, and I may try to make another arm, I would
make some changes.
The arm I made is 12" and about 20 grams. I tried to keep it on the light side. I think I should be using a med/low
compliance cartridge but what I have is a Shure m97ex. I know that with damping one can get away with a higher compliance cartridge but still
I think an Audio Technica or Denon would work better with this heavy arm.
My arm is Western Red Cedar but if people are using arrow shafts filled with
sand surely they don't come in under this weight.
Because of the weight and length of this arm I should have used heavy
silicone. Standard recommended is 100,000 cs. I used 75,000 but covered a good deal of the golf ball. To do it again I would use 125,000. One can
alway use less by using a stick to remove some fluid, but you can only
fill the cup so high.
The commercial maker says that the damping is not critical but I have not found this to be true. One must experiment. It is pretty easy to make one of these arms, but don't be fooled by those who say a couple hours and it is done. I know I have played with mine a great deal trying to improve it.
I used a tapered shot glass for the ball container. I used five 1 1/2" steel washers to bring the fluid level up. These are nice because of the hole in the middle so you can be sure that the ball will not touch the washer at any point. I still used 2 1/2 containers of silicone.
I suggest that you do not use pennies to build up the bottom surface of the container. I did so and they displaced themselves and it was tough to get them out and impossible to clean the fluid off of them. Silicone has to be one of the stickiest messiest substances on the planet. Do take care not to get any on the nylon strings or you will find it difficult to change azimuth.
I have not had problems with the azimuth changing. It has been very good from start to finish of an LP. I have not had problems with VTF changing either.
Highly recommended. This arm has been a great help in getting good sound out of a low cost cartridge/stylus and reducing sibilance!
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3D Printed parts
Here a couple of pics of the parts that arrived this morning.
Head shells and golf ball.
This is not polished as stated by shapeways.
I will have to give it a buff, the finishing is not to good. Golf ball I'm not worried about, but the rest I would have liked a little better finishing. But yeah! Don't believe the hype around this Technology, it's not that! Amazing.
But, I will see how the product looks after some wet and dry.
The holes are good though as the shaft is around 5.96mm and the holes in the Head shell were made to be 6mm. It's a tight fit, but will go in OK.
Here a couple of pics of the parts that arrived this morning.
Head shells and golf ball.
This is not polished as stated by shapeways.
I will have to give it a buff, the finishing is not to good. Golf ball I'm not worried about, but the rest I would have liked a little better finishing. But yeah! Don't believe the hype around this Technology, it's not that! Amazing.
But, I will see how the product looks after some wet and dry.
The holes are good though as the shaft is around 5.96mm and the holes in the Head shell were made to be 6mm. It's a tight fit, but will go in OK.
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Which Cartridge?
Hello, I'm new around here.
My plan is to build a WTL arm this winter. If that is reasonably successful, I may build a complete turntable.
As I have a fairly well equipped workshop at home, I'm going to turn the oil cup and the pillar from aluminium and use an arrow shaft as arm. Haven't decided on the arrow type yet, but the Easton Jazz at least has an appropriate name
My turntable is an DD Apollon TL-600A that I bought in the late seventies. It needs a new cartridge, and seem to have developed some play in the arm bearings. Hence the idea of building something else.
Since I must buy a new cartridge anyway, I'd like to get one that suits the WTL arm. As I have understood it, a medium to low compliance cartridge is what this arm prefers. I am looking for something in the 50-100 € range like AT95E, Ortofon 2M red or similar. However, these do not have that low compliance as I understand it.
Or did I misunderstand?
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Anders
Hello, I'm new around here.
My plan is to build a WTL arm this winter. If that is reasonably successful, I may build a complete turntable.
As I have a fairly well equipped workshop at home, I'm going to turn the oil cup and the pillar from aluminium and use an arrow shaft as arm. Haven't decided on the arrow type yet, but the Easton Jazz at least has an appropriate name
My turntable is an DD Apollon TL-600A that I bought in the late seventies. It needs a new cartridge, and seem to have developed some play in the arm bearings. Hence the idea of building something else.
Since I must buy a new cartridge anyway, I'd like to get one that suits the WTL arm. As I have understood it, a medium to low compliance cartridge is what this arm prefers. I am looking for something in the 50-100 € range like AT95E, Ortofon 2M red or similar. However, these do not have that low compliance as I understand it.
Or did I misunderstand?
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Anders
DYI WTL - how does it sound?
I do not know if this thread is much read anymore, but as I just have completed a WTL Tonearm clone and am going through the first tests, I would be glad to have some opinions from other DYIers. I have a Shure M95 ED cartridge (high compliance) mounted on it and have adjusted the tonearm correctly (overhang, VTF, TVA), at least everything looks OK. Silicon oil is 100.000cts. My first listening test since one week show a sound with no major treats except that it's like smoothed in the high frequencies. The surface sound is very low but it seems that the micro-details are missing also, therefore it's kind of lifeless. Any opinions or hints to what I should look at in order to bring some more life to it?
I do not know if this thread is much read anymore, but as I just have completed a WTL Tonearm clone and am going through the first tests, I would be glad to have some opinions from other DYIers. I have a Shure M95 ED cartridge (high compliance) mounted on it and have adjusted the tonearm correctly (overhang, VTF, TVA), at least everything looks OK. Silicon oil is 100.000cts. My first listening test since one week show a sound with no major treats except that it's like smoothed in the high frequencies. The surface sound is very low but it seems that the micro-details are missing also, therefore it's kind of lifeless. Any opinions or hints to what I should look at in order to bring some more life to it?
Attachments
Did you set the vta properly? What cartridge are you using?
Possibly dampen the arm with balsa wood down the inside of the arrow shaft? It cant hurt and is cheap enough to do.....
You can also think about putting something like blue tack on the head shell. It will add more mass to the cartridge end of the arm.
Possibly dampen the arm with balsa wood down the inside of the arrow shaft? It cant hurt and is cheap enough to do.....
You can also think about putting something like blue tack on the head shell. It will add more mass to the cartridge end of the arm.
I have set the SRA (stylus raking angle) to about 92°, as recommended. The tonearm is tailing a little up, but if anything this should not lower the high frequency response.
The cartridge is a Shure M95 ED. As it is a high compliance cartridge, I would not increase the mass of the toneram.
The arm is made of an 8mm carbon fiber shaft, filled with fine grain sand as recommended for damping. My thoughts concerning the "ironed" high frequency response would go more towards TOO MUCH damping. Either through the silicon oil or through the soft coupling of the shaft to the golf ball (made of some rubber) or due to the sand in the shaft - these are all assumptions.
Someone also has had similar problems with lack of micro-details? Any comparisons made with other arms? (I did compare it to another arm, a DYI Schroeder clone, and it was rather obvious).
The cartridge is a Shure M95 ED. As it is a high compliance cartridge, I would not increase the mass of the toneram.
The arm is made of an 8mm carbon fiber shaft, filled with fine grain sand as recommended for damping. My thoughts concerning the "ironed" high frequency response would go more towards TOO MUCH damping. Either through the silicon oil or through the soft coupling of the shaft to the golf ball (made of some rubber) or due to the sand in the shaft - these are all assumptions.
Someone also has had similar problems with lack of micro-details? Any comparisons made with other arms? (I did compare it to another arm, a DYI Schroeder clone, and it was rather obvious).
Have a look at this thread on LH, this is my latest WTA their might be something in the text etc that might help
http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=23199.0
http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=23199.0
As I'm using Decca carts that require a mass loaded arm, the arms I used before Ie SME, Audio mods, & a Uni Pivot. None could really cope properly. So the WTA works best & brings out everything Very fine details in the Mid, Treble & Great Base.
Ps I note your using a Lenco TT & your in Yorkshire, Why not come along to the next Lenco Haven Meet in Loughborough on 12 October. More details on LH in the Meetings section.
James
Ps I note your using a Lenco TT & your in Yorkshire, Why not come along to the next Lenco Haven Meet in Loughborough on 12 October. More details on LH in the Meetings section.
James
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To russc: Yes, I've tried the cartridge on another tonearm. As a matter of fact, I tried a second cartridge (AT 440 MLa) on it, it sounds also as it's missing the life I hear when mounted on my other tonearm. So it's tied with the WTL. But, as I see that every DYIer having used their WTL is very pleased with its sound - or more, enthousiastic -, it must be something in my WTL that doesn't fit. I'll try first to change the inner cable (easiest move) to see the change.
I am indeed using a Lenco L75, which is a fantastic turntable. I would love to come to the LH meeting, but that's too far. I'm in Germany.
Any hints regarding the damping with silicon oil? Can it be that too much damping could lead to a decrease in high frequencies, on micro-details? My bass and mid-treble is good.
I am indeed using a Lenco L75, which is a fantastic turntable. I would love to come to the LH meeting, but that's too far. I'm in Germany.
Any hints regarding the damping with silicon oil? Can it be that too much damping could lead to a decrease in high frequencies, on micro-details? My bass and mid-treble is good.
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