Narrower spindle for Thorens turntable

Hi Catama,

While Thorens may have the correct sized spindle (I believe they are.286”), it does you little good to know that record manufacturers cannot hold to RIAA specs - or punch records on center for that matter. It is this latter point that renders a precise spindle fit meaningless. You can “precisely” keep an off-center punched record, off center.

Your best bet would be to find a competent machinist to skim off a few thousandths. Go for .281”. You’ll find VPI and Sota to be in the .282” to .283” range, but I’ve had to wrestle records off Sotas (.283”).

Some will argue .281” to be too small. I’ve never received a single complaint with my rigs for being a touch on the shy side of this number.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier

Thanks Steve,

Yes, finding a machinist you trust is key. I didn't mean to trivialize this.

It's interesting that your Thorens' are "only" in the .282-.283 range (VPI & Sota territory).

I imagine that at some point, Thorens realized they were fighting a losing battle in keeping to RIAA standard.

Your experience of the .282-.283 range being problematic mirrors mine, and when I spec'd the Teres bearing out in the first month of the project, we went for what you measured (the spec as I recall was .280 -0/+001, and .2805 splits this difference perfectly).

It's the number I still use.

I wish I had better (easier to execute) advice for you than the two options presented above (machining spindles, or reaming records).

Cheers,
Thom