2. analog
  3. 1157059532

Building high-end 'tables cheap at Home Despot II

“For those who want the moon but can't afford it or those who can afford it but like to have fun and work with their hands, I'm willing to give out a recipe for a true high-end 'table which is easy to do, and fun to make as sky's the limit on design/creativity! The cost of materials, including 'table, is roughly $200 (depending, more or less), and add to that a Rega tonearm. The results are astonishing. I'll even tell/show you how to make chipboard look like marble and fool and impress all your friends. If there's interest I'll get on with this project, if not, I'll just continue making them in my basement. The next one I make will have a Corian top and have a zebra stripe pattern! Fun! Any takers?”

The Lead in “Da Thread” as posted by Johnnantais - 2-01-04

Let the saga continue. Sail on, oh ships of Lenco!
mario_b
gp49
52 posts
 
A typical 401 runs fast without the magnetic brake, so if you remove it, you need to reduce the turntable's speed. Other than a variac which reduces torque and motor RPM (and thus motor inertia) another way to alter the speed downward so it's accurate is to CAREFULLY turn down the step on the motor pulley. You can do this with a small metalworking file as the motor and pulley spin, checking frequently to see how the speed is being affected. I'd stop when you reach around 0.3% fast. Do all this when the motor is fully warmed up; it will run slow at first when you turn it on cold (probably still within 1%) but will speed back up as it warms up.

Since the motor will be spinning at close to 1800 rpm as you work on it, the end result will be perfectly concentric.

I'd recommend buying a replacement pulley from one of the vendors on E*** selling new ones, grinding it down, and keeping your original in a safe place.
mgreene
107 posts
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

Ebay it is - maybe I'll try Loricraft too. GP49 - this is a replacement pulley - I have the parts for Imbabi's power supply but never built it because I was bummed out by the shipping damage described. DHL has not been very nice to me.

Yes Jean, I read the opinions where the disk is considered necessary to get the full Garrard PRAT.

Leisual, be careful about getting solvent on the motor windings - if you melt the insulation the coil will probably short.

Mike
goughary
10 posts
 
Has anyone tried to use plaster as a material in their plynth construction? I imagine it should be a pretty dead material, but I was wondering about over-damping? So here is what I want to try - build a hollow plynth using alternate layers of maple a MDF, then fill as much of the inside as possible with plaster and burlap (to give streng to the plaster. Ideas? if I cover the bottom of the deck with a plastic bag and sink it in, then after the plaster hardens, I can remove whatever material necessary to allow for movement of the mechanism underneath the deck.
gp49
52 posts
 
Participants in this forum may be interested in an article by Garrard chief engineer E. W. Mortimer, in the July 1967 issue of Component Technology magazine, a technical publication of the Plessey Group, which owned Garrard at the time.

Go to:

http://home.earthlink.net/~transcrubbers/id18.html
jejune
29 posts
 
Apologies, my post above obviously was intended for another thread.
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