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Tim Sr.
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Everything posted by Tim Sr.
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Congrats @MicroMara that is stunning!!
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I can't wait to see this tonearm!!.... Funny how a few hours ago I was pondering a concrete tonearm, just because I was studying tonearm geometry......
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Can I join in? I too have belt driven.. or a few of TD 165 AR XA BIC 940 Dual 1246 and a Pro-Ject Debut series Hmm seems belt driven is all I have...
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WTG @mustang_flht Awesomeness! Now you can get into the Groove I am sure you will find many hours of great sounds with this TT
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Extreme caution!! Those are known to cut finger tips like razor blades!! Next time get the Classical air guitar ones :), they require less stitches after playing
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@KROCKCan't wait to see what's in that Record Shipping box It will blow me away if it is an Ortofon Test record... mine came 2 days ago
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Awesome Pics @MicroMara I sure hope I can get MA 530 MP Needle that clean. It is going to be a chore though. I do feel for you in the setup, VTA, AS, Azi, Zenith, but all worth it for sure. I got Christmas today, the bearings have arrived I now have to remove tone arm from the table so as to properly get the install done. So lots of work ahead. Running R2R in the background today.
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OH YEAH! Now we're talkin..Really talkin! Always my favorite, my go to wine @Zen Traveler Like you the Spatlase was (thinking of the vintage years, as each year is always a bit different) and is the finest art of the wine making realm. I have had Beerenauslese as well as Trokenbeerenauslese but as GOOD as they are, just a bit too sweet for my pallete. I was into wine tasting for a while (Moons ago) and once I found the Prädikatswein category, it was done. Nothing else would live up to these. I want to share the glassware here, but alas I save this for later, as whilst I put my system back together, and move bits around, the safety of the collection is paramount. Currently have half of it packed into boxes and once things get settled into place, then I will unpack the glassware again. I spoke of the cabinets were the AR XA is homed, but did not mention the AR XA was displacing said packed glassware. Each week I get closer to the envisioned setup, and think it will come to fruition soon. Almost there now, waiting for two bookshelves to arrive that I built years (Decades) ago around my media collection. Then I shall move all the Tapes, vinyl, and CD's to their proper home, giving back to the gear the proper places they belong. DEFINITELY not letting the Glassware be out around moving bookshelves and such. I would like to see others collections of the glassware for those willing to share. Love the topic, maybe worthy of it's own thread? Tim
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Waiting on parts..plus more:) Put on Chicago, box set live. Forgot just how good these were. Working on some accessories for the AR. like a leveling frame, replace seals on cabinet doors, clean out the whole shebang.. maid duty here.
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Now we're talking!!
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Update: I have tried to stick to basic cleaning for not while waiting for parts and batteries. I will have the battery's today and will get pics of the progress. I did some thinking (Painful) and have decided to go for a new set of jewels for the pivots, but setting the jewels into the housing rather than the cylinder (barrel. Sleeve?) and to insert new pivot points into the cylinder. These are the jewels I am getting and the shafts. While writing this Dave at Swiss jewel called about my request, and found one issue in my selection and has offered me samples for my project, since it is a one off thing. I have to do a bit of engineering here to insure proper mating and fit of the shaft to the jewels, and that is the same as in watch making the dilemma now is the fitment of the shafts to the cylinder, with out having to drill on it, but there I have an idea that would allow there to be no change to the cylinder, keeping it original. I also will be replacing the ball bearing under the tonearm shaft as there is a ridge and some scratches on the original. The platter bearing looks real good so I will leave that one be. I have to finish cleaning the bearing wells on both the platter and tone arm today, soft rotary nylon brush and ATF to get a perfect polish. Add another coat of oil to the walnut base and am thinking of a clear coat over the top plate, "leaving" the small dings and such in the finish there. Not that it adds character, but it tells the story of the life of this TT. Electrical are finished and I had to tear the power switch apart to get the contacts clean, I will be replacing the capacitor on the switch, as the arcing had been rather severe causing such a carbon build up. I may replace the motor capacitor while I am doing the other. Update again: the new bearings are now ordered. Progress is now slow waiting for parts, oil finish is drying, so I am just fiddling with the tools for the alignment procedure. I will post a new update in a day or so and with pictures all going well..
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Well it seems I won't be posting images today, delayed yesterday waiting on battery recharge, that failed. So now waiting for new battery, well 3 really, one for each camera that now needs a new one. I am not waiting on the batteries though to continue, and @Full Range I did try the hemp oil rope, as well as PTFE tape, and a few other slippery options, and found the most sensitive to be the graphite. I put a request in to Bird Precision on a set of spring loaded jewels that would fit the housing replacing the pivot screws, and working out a pin arrangement for a future test. Again a TY to @Full Range for the brochure, I had forgotten the damping of the tonearm bearing, mentioned in the Brochure of being butterfingers. So I disassembled things once (3 times) again and found the right grease for the cylinder. Today is the cleaning and oiling of the walnut, clean and assess the top plate (Paint it??), clean and polish platters, repair the power switch, oil the motor, no need to tear it apart though, not this decade, then on to the next phase. will be firing up the Thorens today as well...C U soon
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Thank you @Full Range for these suggestions. Yes I could re-tap the threads and is part of the consideration in how to set up the watch points into jewels, I may try designing a new cone screw, drilling out a set screw to house a new point, one that is much sharper in definition I might just try the plumbers rope, I have some I could experiment with
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I had to hunt long and hard to find a proper graphite source (about 30 seconds of walking) and taper the end for a good fit and I think this might just be the way to go(for now). The end result is a balance of 0.11 grams accuracy. Less that that the arm still falters but achieving zero g balance is now much better. The minimum I would ask of this arm to track with would be a minimum of 0.75 and normally would be a tracking force of 1.0 to 1.25 g. I will continue to watch for replacement parts and fiddle with some watch shaft/points as a possible modification for the future. I am satisfied though with the result of the graphite bearing here. Now onto the more challenging tasks of proper cleaning.
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Today's update: AR XA It has been an interesting and educational day. I did my inspection on the barrel with a microscope to get a good look at the pivot cups, and what I saw was rather surprising ( A lot of images "Warning") I was figuring on a small cup cut into the brass for each pivot point. I have read about "Bearings" in the barrel by other folk working on these.There was never much clarification here to the why and what of these bearings. and what I found was a steel insert in the brass that the pivot is supposed to couple with. One pivot here shows a ridge line or wear at the point it coupled to the steel sleeve. The other pivot looked acceptable. I will not be able to set the jewels into this, and see that would not be the correct solution here. Ideally having two new pivots and a new sleeve would be best. I tried to clean up the pivot screws using a pin vise and 600 grit, putting the pin vise in the lathe holding the pivot, but the overall impact was nil. I searched to see what was available and came up empty, other than picking up an used arm to rob parts off of, but the same issues would be likely for the given age and such. So I decided to try an old trick to see if there was another possibility. Insert a graphite rod into the sleeve and then create a new point to receive the pivot, allowing the pivot to ride in and on a graphite surface. continued...
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@Full Range Thank you for sharing this. I have watched this video several times and I will not be hammering nails into wood on my AR I can promise you. I do like this video and his whole approach. I am about to post an update here in a few moments with some interesting pictures.
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nice score there. I will be interested in your listening observations. ... belt drive yes, as I only own belt drive TT now, except for a sony DD Linear tracking, but that is in storage way out west in Colorado. It has issues so am not in any hurry to retrieve it.
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@AndreG. that is the Dual 1246 actually, I am not wealthy or worthy enough to own a 701
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Laughing here, yeah well I can finally say all here and accounted for The Thorens is all cleaned and sits next to the Dual, almost. Cartridge and phono box between them The Bic is atop the CD players on the wall, and the Project above that. The AR of course is in the Hutch next to the Dual NOTHING is in the proper spot yet, we can not find the stereo stand legs...think as legs do they somehow walked away (Sick humor)
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Packages today... My replacement of Tommy so I know what will playing here Also got the cartridge sleds for the Dual TT
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Yeah, felt! I have never had to replace felt oil washers unless they were missing, the foam ones are just a PITA and replacing with felt I always consider an improvement. I just noted that the Delrin discs are missing as well so they are now on order. I also found an original, decent dust cover to replace the one that did it's job when a speaker vibrated off a shelf down onto the turntable. Only the dust cover suffered which is what it was for. Happened the day I moved the AR to a new location, not realizing the danger I was putting it in. I got lucky is all I can say and even luckier finding an original for less than half the price of the new replacements being offered today. I have found what I believe to be the perfect jewels for the cylinder (Barrel) and I think these will press fit in nicely without having to bore out the cups of the barrel, I have both Sapphire and Ruby in this size, and am leaning towards the Ruby though the sapphire would be just as good. One set will get allocated to the spares box for this TT.
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Yes I could and have a spare Thorens but, the real goal is to get original. like a purist thing, but more of a very old emotional attachment I would consider grabbing an ebay arm to steal the cylinder out of but figure it would be in the same condition. I have also considered chucking up brass bar in the lathe and just cut a new one. Sleeping on this the installation of jewels is getting the most votes so far, ease of the repair, plenty on hand and would be a small improvement of the design. Goal today is to play with jewels to see if I have perfect match or something close enough. Just something durable that allows the balance motion to be able to swing at or near zero g, not up around .5 grams where it is now. It is not supposed to be sticking like this per the design of Edgar Villchur. I still have 4 other TT's to spin with and allows me the time however long it takes to see this project through. One small issue I have not worked out yet is the felt washer that goes around the arm post on the top of the T frame. It is an oil keeper felt prevents oil from migrating out of the shaft and holds the oil for the shaft to remain lubricated. I am sure that the original was a compressed foam that deteriorates converting into a sticky mush that is NOT helpful and a chore to get cleaned up once it goes goo. I have looked at and studied several available kits replacing the whole T Frame and bearings, with the new springs, foam and rubbers washers, but then it is not really the AR XA TT anymore, neat idea and a very helpful solution for users and! wonderful idea on finding ways to improve a device and the continued search for the perfect TT. So much fun
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I must apologize to everyone. I posted the photo in a humorous way, so I thought (intention), and realize now this would be sad to see by the forum participants. I will clarify what is happening, the love and attention that is being invested here, to see this AR XA gleam once again as it was when I bought this (1969 or 68). The TT is a heavily used with only minimal maintenance so suffers from time and neglect. Currently I have only completed the inspection and assessment of the wear and damage.I make a list and then address each item individually to insure the proper restoration is completed for each item. I am estimating a month minimum to finish this project. My findings are that the big issue will be the brass pivot cylinder and sleeve and the pivot screws in the tonearm. Electrically everything is in great shape so great care has to be taken not to compromise the tone arm wiring. That is a bugger to re-do, but in the back of my mind doing an upgrade of the tonearm wiring is mulling about. I have the litz wire for replacing the wiring (I forget what brand "Expensive stuff") and the time to do this is now. Focus is to put the brass cylinder in my lathe and remove the pivot cup burs that have developed over the years. The tone arm will not float at zero g balance due to the burs and the pivot points ride too deep the cylinder. I do not remember having even disassembled the tone arm so may be the pivots were too tight from the factory, but I will assume that they were improperly adjusted at sometime thus distorting the cups and damaging the cylinder. I might have to do a modification to be able to revive this cylinder, by installing pivot jewels for the points to ride in. Following that it is mostly cleaning, adjust and align everything. The suspension springs are still good and stiff, but the foam has deteriorated as well as the rubber washers are hardened for age. Those will be replaced, and the final assessment of the springs made once the floating system is adjusted with everything in place. I will post an occasional picture as I go along if anyone is interested. The Goal, restore to original factory condition, and original specifications mechanically. Then enjoy my first ever high end piece of gear. ........ oh the work ahead....
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LOL Don't be sad @KROCK Sitting in storage for 16 years, she was due for a total overhaul.alignment and calibration.This is just day 1 of many for this baby, noting the pivot points seats will have to be restored. Among other things It's a good thing here, she finally gets a tune up
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Awwww My TT is out of commission...
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