I’ve been considering the idea of building my own turntable but I have zero knowledge. I’m looking for some resources for
1. DIY Projects
2. Suppliers of parts
Any advice is also welcome..looking to keep this quite simple and not over the top.
Appreciate everything in advance!
1. DIY Projects
2. Suppliers of parts
Any advice is also welcome..looking to keep this quite simple and not over the top.
Appreciate everything in advance!
Well if you want a first project then I would try this
MyTechnics - calvins-audio-pages
Calvin does pop up here now and again. His site also has some stuff on tonearm building. This sort of project is a good starter and you will end up with a good turntable.
If you like a challenge then look to rebuilding a Lenco (depending on the part of the world you are in).
MyTechnics - calvins-audio-pages
Calvin does pop up here now and again. His site also has some stuff on tonearm building. This sort of project is a good starter and you will end up with a good turntable.
If you like a challenge then look to rebuilding a Lenco (depending on the part of the world you are in).
You could make something like that and it's certainly pretty, but you run the risk it looking nicer than it sounds, but depends what you are after as an end result. Donor is cheap enough.
Basically I have some wood working skills, and I have electronic skills (I’ve designed and printed PCB’s) but I’ve never done a turntable. I’d love to find a place that sells the motors, table and tonearms and maybe a small pre-amp just a starter. Keep in mind I’m using a Sonos speakers right now for my speakers so I’m not even sure I’d notice if the sound was horrible.
Don't know where you're based James, but Pro-Ject parts (motors, tone arms, platters and bearings) are available here:
Buy Pro-Ject Motor Home Record Player & Turntable Parts | eBay
Buy Pro-Ject Motor Home Record Player & Turntable Parts | eBay
The way i see it, turntables are bunch of related sub-projects.
1) plinth and platter, do you want suspended like the old AR, thorens, etc etc or not?
2) drive system, belt, direct, idler? Motor? Electronic or Mechanic commutation?
3) arm, DIY or purchased? Linear or pivoting (or both, if you are adventurous)?
4) cartridge and pre-amp, not a lot (but some) DIY happening in the former, plenty in the latter.
Give us a few clues and we'll point you in the right direction.
1) plinth and platter, do you want suspended like the old AR, thorens, etc etc or not?
2) drive system, belt, direct, idler? Motor? Electronic or Mechanic commutation?
3) arm, DIY or purchased? Linear or pivoting (or both, if you are adventurous)?
4) cartridge and pre-amp, not a lot (but some) DIY happening in the former, plenty in the latter.
Give us a few clues and we'll point you in the right direction.
I know this is DIYaudio.com
but doesnt a turntable diy project seems like a mammoth undertaking if you're after a useable turntable?
if you're using technics 1200 as a benchmark...
can I ask if this is for educational purposes? if you're trying to save money, i'd definately recommend just buying a used 1200. Buying composite parts and jigsawing the project seems less a diy project and more like an assembly project.
the real learning is in the engineering aspects which will be dodged by buying motors, arms and so on.
Ontop of this, setting up a tecnics 1200 properly will teach you bucketloads on its own
but doesnt a turntable diy project seems like a mammoth undertaking if you're after a useable turntable?
if you're using technics 1200 as a benchmark...
can I ask if this is for educational purposes? if you're trying to save money, i'd definately recommend just buying a used 1200. Buying composite parts and jigsawing the project seems less a diy project and more like an assembly project.
the real learning is in the engineering aspects which will be dodged by buying motors, arms and so on.
Ontop of this, setting up a tecnics 1200 properly will teach you bucketloads on its own
In that case, I'd buy a (good) 2nd hand turntable. The advantages are obvious:
- gives you some time to get hands-on experience
- It's easier to try some modifications on turntables before building one yourself
- Probably a lot cheaper.
Besides, you'll need a good RIAA preamp... where DIYaudio comes in very handy 😉
One important note: Never trust the needle in a 2nd hand turntable you buy. Always replace them by a new one.
Last edited:
I've always wondered what could be achieved if one had access to top quality lathes, milling machines, boring machines, etc.
Casting a platter ala Garrard or EMT is obviously impossible outside the industrial sector but could a high quality one be machined along with the main bearing? I am assuming a skilled machinist. I think the drive system would be less of a challenge.
Casting a platter ala Garrard or EMT is obviously impossible outside the industrial sector but could a high quality one be machined along with the main bearing? I am assuming a skilled machinist. I think the drive system would be less of a challenge.
Your great grandfather, or his neighbor, cast metal non-industrially.
My dad and I cast metal on the patio with a hibachi and a vacuum-cleaner set to blow.
A TT platter is not an engine piston. It can be about any scrap copper and aluminum you can find.
When I was a boy there was still a casting shop in the next town, and a polite request got us more Casting Sand (sharp sand with a binder) than we could ever use. I know DIY casting is a thing and am sure a moment on Amazon etc will turn up sand, ladle, flasks, and other bits. (But the flask for a platter is just a scrap of plywood and 4 scraps of trim.)
While this will be obvious before the metal finally melts: Very Dangerous!!
PRR, my grandfather worked at Harland and Wolff shipyard; my father, after completing his MOD funded Ph.D worked at Watervliet arsenal for a few years before settling into university life back in Belfast. He still maintains a well appointed machine shop (Hardinge, Schaublin, etc.) at home but I don't ever remember him doing any casting-I'll ask him.
By the way, I think I remember you complaining about the weather in Maine. One of my childhood memories is of my Dad getting sunstroke during a trip there.
By the way, I think I remember you complaining about the weather in Maine. One of my childhood memories is of my Dad getting sunstroke during a trip there.
Actually, I am astonished to have found a video on youtube of someone sandcasting a platter very successfully.
> a video on youtube of someone sandcasting a platter
Perhaps -- Sand casting an aluminium LP record turntable prototype - YouTube
That's not his first sand-pack. He moves like a piecework production caster. He has a fire-resistant workspace. And he seems to have a magic poly sand, not the old molases binder. If you see his other posts he works metal many ways.
Perhaps -- Sand casting an aluminium LP record turntable prototype - YouTube
That's not his first sand-pack. He moves like a piecework production caster. He has a fire-resistant workspace. And he seems to have a magic poly sand, not the old molases binder. If you see his other posts he works metal many ways.
Another casting. There's a 1914 Delage racer with a cracked "block". Actually the cylinders and head are a single casting (no head gasket!), so it is a VERY complicated mold. The owners wished to run it again. (I'd drop-in a Toyota, but they have more money than I do; also a Toyota would not have the bark of a fat-head 4-valve racer.)
You *know* the original mold was carved from wood with a pocket-knife and chisels. But that guy was a genius and now dead.
They, and the company who did the job, are very proud of the 3-D scanner used to digitize the shape into a 3-D printer to "print the mold". 14 parts! (The 1914 mold was 42 parts.) It printed sand and the metal was cast into the printed mold.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-27/saving-the-last-delage-type-s-grand-prix-car/8310958
https://www.voxeljet.com/branchen/cases/neuaufbau-eines-delage-rennmotors-mit-voxeljet/
https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...INAL_Phil+Guilfoyle+AHA+paper+Feb21+clear.pdf
Even without the sand-printer, a modern hobbyist could print a plastic platter, pack sand, and cast into the hole.
Turns out a shop around the corner here does boat propeller work, large sizes, even castings. If I could afford a foot of bronze they could do me beautiful. There's a bell shop on the next bay which appears to do some fabrication; if they don't cast they probably know who does.
You *know* the original mold was carved from wood with a pocket-knife and chisels. But that guy was a genius and now dead.
They, and the company who did the job, are very proud of the 3-D scanner used to digitize the shape into a 3-D printer to "print the mold". 14 parts! (The 1914 mold was 42 parts.) It printed sand and the metal was cast into the printed mold.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-27/saving-the-last-delage-type-s-grand-prix-car/8310958
https://www.voxeljet.com/branchen/cases/neuaufbau-eines-delage-rennmotors-mit-voxeljet/
https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...INAL_Phil+Guilfoyle+AHA+paper+Feb21+clear.pdf
Even without the sand-printer, a modern hobbyist could print a plastic platter, pack sand, and cast into the hole.
Turns out a shop around the corner here does boat propeller work, large sizes, even castings. If I could afford a foot of bronze they could do me beautiful. There's a bell shop on the next bay which appears to do some fabrication; if they don't cast they probably know who does.
- Status
- Not open for further replies.