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Loricraft Record Cleaning

I've put off buying a record cleaning machine for years now, and doing it by hand is just getting old (So am I for that matter). Seems like everyone has an opinion on which machine is best, but nothing really negative on the Loricraft machines.

I'm looking for a used machine if possible, and if someone has one and is tired of cleaning records period, let me know. If you can point me to a solution or have a reason why I'm completely out in left field, that's helpful as well.

Thanks for the input!
Paul
pkubica

Showing 4 responses by dougdeacon

dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Even simpler than a clamp: just put a light coating of Vaseline on the fitting before sliding the hose on. That will stop all vacuum leaks.
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Hi Jazdoc,

Glad that helped, another tip my scientist/engineer partner learned from his dad, a master machinist.

Please don't get all these tweaks confused. Vaseline + TriPlanar = Trouble!

The %$*@@! dealer who used my TP as a demo forgot to empty the dampening trough before shipping. Every square mm was slathered in silicone. It took me five hours to clean it. If you want to get to know your new tonearm really well, try dunking it in oil and then cleaning by hand. ;-)

Enjoy this great tonearm,
Doug
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
I suppose one could always just advance the thread a tiny bit manually as the arm sweeps across the LP.
Not really. The suction keeps the thread pinned between record surface and vacuum nipple, so if you untwist the spool to generate a little slack it doesn't get pulled up into the vacuum arm until the nipple clears the edge of the record. For this to work with the Monks it must actively pull the thread through. Just giving it a little slack wouldn't work.

OTOH, I don't think it's that big a deal either. Pulling a 1/4" of thread slack to refreshen it after each pass doesn't make my list of hardships! ;-)
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
I also understand that as of this month all units will have a bidirectional motor built in. Is this used just for the scrubbing phase, or does it come into play during the drying phase as well?
Neither! ;-)

Loricraft added a bidirectional motor to meet customer requests, but I'm not sure how useful it will be.

The platter spins much too fast (75rpm+) for scrubbing. Offering birectional spin with a slow speed would have been useful, but at this speed it hardly matters.

Bidirectional spin probably serves no purpose at all when vacuuming. One way's as good as the other as far as I can see.

As Tim said, simplicity is a good thing. I don't even bother with O-rings on the spool spindle. Advancing the thread by PULLING on the thread while the nozzle is sucking air works perfectly. You control the amount of thread released and there's no thread fouling, which can happen if you twist the spool while the nozzle is down on the LP or the machine top plate. Less is more.

Doug
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