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tiguan
17-12-2014, 18:02
İ started as upgrading my Rega P3-24 with tonearm wire, tecnoweight and michel vta adjuster ended by making a new turntable. After long consultancy of a music lover experienced in damping factor, young modulus and his test with accelerometer on many samples, by my luck İ found African ironwood (İpe family).
Plinth and the table underneath will be ironwood.

İ was very lucky by finding this wood like this because any İpe or other ironwood they do not keep like this immediately they cut as 10-20 cm wide floor coverings.

Thé piece was originaly 6 cm thick, so İ told not to touch at this stage better decided after looking from all sides and aspects.
İ made a scaled sketch. İ was thinking to use motor, rb301 arm, bearing and sleeve, subplatter (michael lim), glass platter at this stage and to add later another motor on the opposite side.

All wooden part thinking now ironwood. Rb301 will be mounted together michael VTA adjuster on armboard.
İ am planning to empty inside the arm tower let say and thinking to fill with lead filled resin.
under this arm tower thinking to put sorbothane sheet.
motor will be seperately sitting on table underneath without touching plinth part. Plinth just cary subplatter, bearing and platter.

What you think guys, any suggestion,
As İ will make 2 gap for 2 motor 65 mm diameter, shall it be a good idea to keep thickness of board 6 cm. Or buy new motor and put outside, without touching plinth.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/12/17/1e8734de8ba656b8c03065ff9ad20524.jpg

tiguan
19-03-2015, 21:02
Project is finally close to finish.
As a summary

My guideline items were following;
- to use existing components of Rega. Because when I was going to change a main component it have affects on others such as changing platter with a heavier would affect rotation and speed, would need a stronger motor so it goes and therefore decided to continue step by step. To upgrade later the platter, motor, bearing structure.
- should be a flexible design.
- available for 2 arms preferably a 12" arm as a second
- should have a warm outlook of course would be wooden based
- should comply with damping and decoupling requierments.
- should have a separate structure for motor without relation with any part of turntable

There are many good projects on the web. But as for damping and body I believe the best source is Audioqualia (http://audioqualia.prophpbb.com/)

First I tought to use solid wood with good damping characteristic such as Ironwood, Olivewood (oiled) as body and found IPE (African Ironwood). But after bringing to home in room temperature after 1 week it started to have some cracks (even the seller told that is was dried already)
So I turned my way to processed wood. It was impossible to find either Panzerholz or Permali which have perfect damping factor. I decided to go to a composite structure. Main parts of the composite structure is 4 layer 18 mm baltic birch pylwood and isophaltic polyester resin. Isophaltic based polyester resin have very good damping characteristic as well and lead to increase the weight.
I established a box from plywood layers cut at CNC. Glued together filled with isophaltic polyester resin and lead balls.


Now I am sandpapering the bodies. Trying to decide oil and varnish. Making some samples with IKEA beewax varnish, tungoil, urethane based varnish etc.

Feets will be sorbothane and spike combination. I already suplied counter weight as tecnoweight and Michell on the fly VTA adjuster.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/25/039ce898fefe72e6c5f3b708f9e483c5.jpg
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/25/1bae636ca921883744c88ed6e6ad4f85.jpg
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/23/a844246d97f4ffaaac2f51a8269cdafa.jpg
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/23/a744a45570b72b2a0d0358ddda2698ae.jpg
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/23/1a81f00924979d8adf3fd073b4d9c9ad.jpg
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/23/8ae49d4726175605b8127ea8625130a0.jpg
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/23/7accac283763a52320e2ed09071a7e91.jpg

struth
19-03-2015, 21:18
It is coming along well Yetkin. Looks like it will be a heavy beast.

walpurgis
19-03-2015, 21:30
Very interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing your finished item.

tiguan
20-03-2015, 20:14
It is coming along well Yetkin. Looks like it will be a heavy beast.
Thanks. Indeed very heavy. I expect it to be nearly 45 kg 30 kg is just lead fill.

tiguan
20-03-2015, 20:17
Tomorrow I will visit an exotic woods shop. Let's see what we will have. I am looking something for veneering.

Audio Advent
20-03-2015, 20:29
That looks great.

I had the same idea with lead shot suspended in some kind of resin - I ended up finding an Alphason deck anyway which is a suspended deck made with a resin sub-chasis. I never get around to DIY.

How did you get the lead to suspend ? Trial and error with different resin mixtures or does is suspend ok anyway without either sinking or just floating on the surface?

tiguan
20-03-2015, 20:52
Thanks Sam.
I used isophaltic polyester resin which has very good damping properties. I recommend to go through Cats squirrel Audioqualia site I inspired very much especially for the body.
Lead fill is actually not suspended. Resin is filled fully with lead balls.
Idea is similar with concrete; lead balls are instead crashed stone and sand and resin is instead of cement as binder and coupler

Pete The Cat
20-03-2015, 21:01
Wow :popcorn:

Looking forward to the next instalment.

Pete

tiguan
21-03-2015, 21:13
I found veneer sheets made from ebony and iroko burl. Upper faces of both bodies I plan to veneer.

I plan to use first and last row ebony between them iroko burl .

I sprayed water to show how it will look like after varnish.
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/21/14a9a630e95e2c8785736c61297bbde9.jpg

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/21/8164bdc802e76b203c7395e26ec66ca3.jpg

struth
21-03-2015, 22:19
Some Shellac Sanding Sealer and then a few coats of wax would really bring out the depth in that wood.

tiguan
23-03-2015, 07:29
I have aligned joining edges. And glued veneer on lower big body.
I will be travelling this 3 days But will continue with the upper body Thursday hopefully.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/23/4f126f597889561281638e28cb3ba752.jpg

tiguan
30-03-2015, 10:51
Veneering the upper surfaces and sandpapering with 60, 220 and last 1000 grit paper has been completed finally. It was the most difficult part from beginning to today.

Yesterday evening I could not stop and made tungoil for vertical surfaces.
There is a concensus on natural shellac as you recommended Grant as well.
I am ready to get height of motor block finally.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/30/ddb8ae18c7503bbbd15c41575f1834fc.jpg
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/30/3ed9a5db735a70675e7ed36f073773f1.jpg
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/30/9d883e4c5ec1953b50123c2300ad0a71.jpg
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/30/182d5213ef42849240b1540d6123e54e.jpg

struth
30-03-2015, 11:00
Certainly looking the business Yetkin. itll not be getting moved much either

walpurgis
30-03-2015, 11:06
That's coming along very well Yetkin. I'm looking forward to seeing the completed item. :)

tiguan
31-03-2015, 17:31
Thanks. Hopefully result will be nice but working with wood is really challenge. :)
I started to apply tungoil on vertical surfaces. It will take 7 days every evening one layer and leaving the wood to rest.
And then start the big work, after talking here with some furniture masters and experiencing the finished products I guess after 30 layers of natural shellac I will get desired result. Ups. :)

tiguan
07-04-2015, 08:17
I took motor blocks. put teflon pipe from top to bottom hole for motor cables. And filled in with polyester again against any ringing at walls. Painted 2 coats black.
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/04/07/7ddb91ba49ba8cd191829be852798d69.jpg
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/04/07/0b5610eee85fffb40ef83e3d80283cbc.jpg
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/04/07/23bd190d6d4ac20e16eec143a899ff06.jpg

I applied 8 days long tung oil with 1000 grit sandingpaper for vertical side surfaces. (24 hour rest after each application)

And put pieces together. To see if everything is Ok. And yes no problem at all.
Remaining jobs
- Shellac at upper surfaces
- Armboard and arm tower under the arm board
- arm works (tecnoweight, vta adjuster and discovery arm wire from betteraudio)

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/04/07/4f6b3da4b57fa10a2623c4f353433756.jpg
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/04/07/345098d895731e9d7902131aaa18f622.jpg
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/04/07/ba74c78a4d5b020ed73c90b329be4c19.jpg
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/04/07/7781be1362d7f21fe222ef275bd0550a.jpg

struth
07-04-2015, 08:49
Thats really coming together Yetkin. Its going to be some machine mate. great stuff:)

British high fidelity
07-04-2015, 09:01
Looks phenomenal brother, very nice, can't wait to see this finished product

tiguan
12-04-2015, 17:17
After a week of french polishing with shellac, bodies are almost completed
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04/12/38769effeb887293ab42c410286cfda2.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04/12/5026af460b4b1e86d71e8e193034acaa.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04/12/6f9a3031f3cf906d62eb2e788207d16b.jpg

walpurgis
12-04-2015, 17:24
I love the way that's looking Yetkin. That's a fine job of polishing you're doing. :thumbsup:

ReggieB
12-04-2015, 18:28
Yetkin, Thoroughly agree with other posters: your turntable is coming along beautifully.

struth
12-04-2015, 21:12
Spot on. Superb bit of work. Hoping it sounds great for you:)

Andrei
12-04-2015, 21:26
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04/12/6f9a3031f3cf906d62eb2e788207d16b.jpg


:stalks:

tiguan
13-04-2015, 08:40
Thank you all..
Close to finish.. Hopefully just a week of time.

tone arm things are remaining
-rewire
-counter weight
-vta adjuster
-armboard

rewire and arm board are the remaining challenging works.

shellac was a very exhausting work :)

key point was adjusting the amount of shellac to get on rubber and not to stop at all, permanently making circles.
And to make that every 1 hour. As much sessions that much shiny.

tiguan
13-04-2015, 08:45
Spot on. Superb bit of work. Hoping it sounds great for you:)

You can not imagine how exited I am, Grant. After 4 months of work and that much effort, how will it sound :rolleyes:
not to long hopefully to know that :)

struth
13-04-2015, 10:05
Its a lot of work Yetkin but all good things come to he who waits as they say...pity i wont be able to hear it but pics are next best thing

British high fidelity
13-04-2015, 10:29
Wow wow wow, it looks so amazing and I'm sure that after all that hard work and patience you will be blown away by the sound, you deserve the reward

tiguan
27-04-2015, 13:21
I have completed arm block and arm board.
Made the levelling and rough adjustment. Fine tuning will be done at the rack.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04/23/b09ee1d578606df80f0c8207015a512c.jpg

I made the arm block steel pipe at the outer and filled with isophaltic polyester resin. locating the bolt inserts was a challenge.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04/23/adfc0d4a34062258c9b8c2e100dbfc60.jpg

I made the Armboard from a African Blackwood (grenadilla) piece. very hard wood difficult to work on.
A previous photo.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04/23/a4f806fa68b19ac4c3f0f0c60c364f99.jpg

For a long time I was planning to put together my bobs device SUT and MM Le pacific phono pre together... SUT out has been connected directly to pacific phono in...

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04/24/0eff79532fe90c4ea588c8fb913444be.jpg

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04/24/805b4409226208dbc0cc15ad948ea3d5.jpg

and tone arm rewiring one piece from cartridge to SUT with seperate ground and replacing counter weight has been completed according the guidance at vinylengine.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kssi87l6ahytvlz/ve_hotwiredrega.pdf?dl=0
http://www.thebetteraudiocompany.co.uk/9_inch_discovery_rewire_kit_with_fitted_clips.html

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04/26/46770ccc1387950931e4c8e7a1c60f80.jpg

close to finish :)

tiguan
29-04-2015, 14:40
Hopefully this weekend I will drop the needle on vinyl..

I was looking for protractors. Yes, as I will use RB301 and can use Baerwald arc rega protractor on vinylengine for it,but I had difficulties previously with my p3-24 and Denon Dl103r during setting up. Even I mount the cartridge up to very front of the arm, could not clearly hit the pivot points had overhang problems.

Any body had the same problem with Denon and Rega arm... I shall adjust maybe with the new body on the armboard by small replacements but anyhow looked an another potential way like making a protractor with the help of http://www.vinylengine.com/tonearm_alignment_calculator_pro.php

here left of the page is ok clear. Right top there are outer groove radius and inner groove radius... For them there are different options to be selected. How we should evaluate them, what is the logic for selecting them.

or to make protractor for each RIAA, JIS and DIN... compare and check the sound performance :)

struth
29-04-2015, 15:18
Ive been using a geodisc for many yearz and never had a! issue with any arm ive used. looking great by the way. eagerly awaiting touchdown

Firebottle
29-04-2015, 16:16
Hi Deano,

Try these for your protractor:
http://www.vacuumstate.com/fileupload/GuruSetUp.pdf
http://www.vacuumstate.com/fileupload/Guru_protractor.pdf

Works for me :)

tiguan
30-04-2015, 08:19
Thanks all.
I made two protractors in Autocad based on the calculation at vinylengine. custom Arm1 and lofgrenA gave best
-Maximum error
-maximum distortion
-average rms distortion
Values.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rsoiffrgtcc5808/Tonearm%20Alignment%20Calculator%20Pro%20-%20Vinyl%20Engine.pdf?dl=0

1 ) according custom calculation as Arm1 for RB301.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/g93ldq3n99t6iff/RB301_Arm1_vinyengine.pdf?dl=0

2) according Lofgren A for RB301
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2jzpkp48evyf7tl/RB301_LofgrenA_vinylengine.pdf?dl=0

will try these together with your proposals.

tiguan
03-05-2015, 19:51
After 5 months of effort finally I have completed my new turntable.
When setting up, I dismantled all racks again, sand papered and bee waxed.

Here there are the photos.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/03/9b8c15426025a8a338f1df418564620a.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/03/78d2295e7ed5182d31d8676f8e5db737.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/03/651ca1d2f3f06877664e634b1acf1f78.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/03/8b1d8c741f690dbab8536f1462b98575.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/03/f9c02b2a66897bb64c2caf9769c828cf.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/03/6bdb41821a27f6df041f2e258671282d.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/03/ed22f5b8de365e3b502f99e9bca35297.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05/03/760a57fb1c14438d93304976cf4320e6.jpg

struth
03-05-2015, 20:12
Superb Yetkin.Sure it sounds that way as well.. Congratulations :goodthread:

kcc123
03-05-2015, 20:37
Beautiful turntable!

walpurgis
03-05-2015, 20:44
Lovely job. That looks very classy Yetkin.

How is it sounding?

tiguan
04-05-2015, 09:21
Superb Yetkin.Sure it sounds that way as well.. Congratulations :goodthread:


Beautiful turntable!


Lovely job. That looks very classy Yetkin.

How is it sounding?
Thanks a lot.

I feel myself relaxed. Last 5 months was challenging.

Generally compared before I have a more flexible turntable. Rb301 is not a user friendly, flexible and adjustable arm. On its own price/performance one of the best but have the above disadvantages. Now I covered all this disadvantages.
Before I could not do perfectly arm and protractor adjustments for DL103R but yesterday I made perfectly. On the spot.

I changed also capacitors of phono pre with mundorf silver oil.
I can hear the best bass range included both digital and analog side of my system. articulated, smooth and wide.
I can get more 3d feeling. It may be due to the added reverb by mastering guy, but even recognizing that, makes me to think that I did a good thing.

Last, more relaxed sound which makes me to think even if there is a problem with motor cycling, checked with stroboskop and everything is OK.

Only point I have problem, high ranges. I did not like but after burning in of tone arm wire and phono pre capacitors I will evaluate this again.

walpurgis
04-05-2015, 09:39
Hi Yetkin. The DL-103R is an excellent MC. But can sometimes be a bit bright. I used Audio Note copper interconnect cable on the phono side and it suited the cartridge better.

tiguan
04-05-2015, 12:32
Hi Yetkin. The DL-103R is an excellent MC. But can sometimes be a bit bright. I used Audio Note copper interconnect cable on the phono side and it suited the cartridge better.
Thanks Geoff for the recommendation.

I collected almost all photos together.

https://picasaweb.google.com/105041940468126077194/DIYTURNTABLE02

sq225917
05-05-2015, 07:30
Nice job.

tiguan
06-05-2015, 19:25
Nice job.
Thank you.

Reffc
09-05-2015, 15:47
Nice job.

+1

love the veneer choice. Personally, I might have used a lighter contrasting veneer such as Sycamore or Birch for the edges but that's just personal preference and not a criticism.

tiguan
11-05-2015, 15:31
+1

love the veneer choice. Personally, I might have used a lighter contrasting veneer such as Sycamore or Birch for the edges but that's just personal preference and not a criticism.
Thanks Paul... I was very lucky finding that burl veneer. And shellac matched perfectly with that veneer.. I am not that much experienced with wood veneer matching with varnishes, but I guess other types of varnishes would not have the same view like natural shellac . The only tough part , french polishing was very time consuming and tiring application.

British high fidelity
13-05-2015, 08:41
Mate I have seen many diy turntables and your one is truly stunning, a masterpiece, very very impressed well done

tiguan
13-05-2015, 18:39
Mate I have seen many diy turntables and your one is truly stunning, a masterpiece, very very impressed well done
Thanks for all your kind compliments, hopefully sound wise the performance is very very good. Which made me happy. Think after 5 months of efforts I could have a beautiful furniture :) :)

Last almost 2 weeks I listen to and I forget how much I was tired days and nights. One day this hobby causes lumber disc hernia :)

dario1954
25-05-2015, 11:50
Wonderful job!!!

VesaLato
26-05-2015, 04:48
Fine looking wood work indeed!

tiguan
26-05-2015, 07:24
Wonderful job!!!


Fine looking wood work indeed!
Thanks guys...