New Maplenoll Ariadne owner needing advice

Let us know if and when you find a good source for the granite look corian as I also have plans for ancillary plinths, for the arm and motor.

Also, beware of too much arm dampening both from the stand point of over damping per se and as regards unnecessary dielectric losses.

Piedpiper, found a supplier that can deliver sheets of corian. Still looking for the exact or closest match. Size of sheet varies. The thickness of the corian is 1/2 inch but you can sandwich many layers together then drill out the motor enclosure. I am still debating on how to do the plinth. Got be heavy enough to be stable. The site is Solidsurface.com. On a separate note, having to go back and rebalance the platter. Takes too much air to float and a pretty good wave as the platter spins. Thanks for your thoughts on the damping. I may start by just running the wires in tube first. As for my oil dampening system. Its similar to what the original maplenoll design, just below the spindle instead of the headshell. I also found adjusting the viscosity of the oil was key to finding the right amount of dampening. My refinery makes a broad set of oils so i get to experiment some. If you are interested, i could sent you a set of different viscosities to try out. I am looking at a new headshell. I used the yamamoto wood (its first class) but will try a graphite headshell. I have a block of solid graphite that i am trimming down into a prototype headshell. I am also pondering an airbearing modification to improve the platter. As you know the airbearing arm has multiple ports to keep the airspindle floating and aligned. most of the new state of the art airbearings used in the positioning field have multiple ports on their rotory bearing plates. Critical parameter is equal pressuredrop through each nozzle. But the multiple nozzles will stabilize the platter with much less air flow and less noise. More to come on this subject

good work!

Oilmanmojo , I have been reading your Apollo adventure with great interest. I have a few suggestions for your consideration ; in no particular order :

1. Clean the air manifold: Removing the manifold and cleaning the airbearing with a oil removing solution does wonders for air flow and arm stabitily.Clean the plith while your at it.

2. Do not underestimate the effect of filling the spindle tube with a "light" dampter. I used a Home Depot product that is sold to fill open spaces around windows. Very easy to apply & interms of dampting scores a 3-4 out out of 10 , an excellent way to improve the spindle w/o excessive dampting & weight.

3. Before re-assembly,lightly spray & polish parts, such as, the spindle, air manifold's inside air bearing ; the inside of top / bottom air bearing plates with Eagle 1 Spray Detailer ; its available almost anywhere auto parts are sold. The result has to be experienced to be believed: All air bearing parts operate so quitely , arm stability is improved.

4. A light damping the bottom of air bearing plate's underside & replacing worn or hardened rubber , returns the pliths performace to like-new or better. You are also assured the bottom bearing is flat ,secure & will not excessively "ring". I feel the top plate must revolve on a "lightly" dampened lower plate to bring out that last breath of air in certian recordings. "Light" is all you need. Again, this has to be experienced to appreciate the difference.

5. Test the platter & air bearing plates for "trueness" before going any further with truing/sanding the platter to assure neither is so out of round the repair may be out of reach.

6. When replacing the center pin use a soft wooden dowel to push the old pin. Then, gently tap in the new pin to seat slightly higher than where the former pin rested. Next, put the top plate into the new center pin , gently push down,by hand, onto the top plate to "seat" the center pin. I have learned that my failure to seat the center pin as outlined can result in "air swoosh". Only that gentle push by hand seats the pin.

Wishing you grest sucess.

Charlie
Thanks for the tips. I have already cleaned the spindle and the air openings/chamber using a good solvent and carefully dried everything. I have not applied an exterior finish as you have suggested, but i will try that. I have notices one of the spare parts in the box of items was an airbearing tube that was not the typical aluminum finish but some type of applied finish that is much smoother than some of the other bearing tubes. great idea. I am still awaiting the balance of the platter. I know that will improve the effectiveness of the system. I am toying with an idea to try on one of the old bearing plates i have. You can improve the effectiveness of the airbearing plate by going to multiple air ports versus the single source. Not an easy task because you have to carefully control the orifice size of the port but if done properly, you could improve the balance of the system using 6 or 8 orifices. The platter dynamics become more stable and the "stiffness" of the airbear improves and less wobble occurs. (at least that is what i think i am learning from studying the theory around the airbearing). If it doesnt work, i still havent lost much because the plates have to be polished and resurfaced anyway. I know I have promised some pics and I will get some soon. Thanks again for the support and tips. By the way, the teflon centerpin is working pretty good.