I have seen many people actually dipping the wood in linseed oil for couple of minutes for it to completely absorb and then hanging it for the first time in youtube. For the subsequent quoting they use a soft brush or as you said cotton cloth.
DIY Tonearm
- Thread starter jls001
- Start date
Dear jls001,
It is wonderful to go with you through your posts. To see you immersed in your design, developments, realizations.
Unipivot arm has taken my interest too. I could not yet read much but started. I am yet to know what actually azimuth, protractor, stiffness or arm, isolation, low CG and many things more affect sound quality. Quite a lot to read actually.
Thank you for being an inspiration to try new things with hobbies (at least).
What is meant by "decoupled" counter weight? Is it that the weight is not on the same arm and is independent of the movement of the arm?
It is wonderful to go with you through your posts. To see you immersed in your design, developments, realizations.
Unipivot arm has taken my interest too. I could not yet read much but started. I am yet to know what actually azimuth, protractor, stiffness or arm, isolation, low CG and many things more affect sound quality. Quite a lot to read actually.
Thank you for being an inspiration to try new things with hobbies (at least).
What is meant by "decoupled" counter weight? Is it that the weight is not on the same arm and is independent of the movement of the arm?
I also thought of doing the same, since I have so much oil
but finally couldn't find a vessel long enough to accommodate the arm tube (16" long). Anyway, I think it's overkillDecoupling here means to have some amount of isolation between the arm tube and the counterweight part of the arm. When we say counterweight part, it includes the stub that holds the actual counterweight.
On many arms (like vintage SMEs, most Regas, ADC, etc), the stub is a different structure from the actual arm tube, though it is usually a tube of the same diameter as the arm tube itself. They usually have a rubber (or other damping material) based insert that is friction fitted to the arm tube at one end, and again friction fitted to the stub at the other end. So what we see is a seamless looking tube from headshell to counterweight. The insert, due to its material property, damps vibration. It reduces the amount of vibration that gets conducted from the arm tube to counterweight, and vice versa. How good is such an arrangement? There are those who argue that it is better to have rigid coupling, so we have after-market titanium rods to replace the OEM ones in Regas, or Teflon pipes to replace the ones on SMEs.
But when the counterweight stub is an extension of the arm tube (like in my case), one can use a damping layer between the stub and the actual counterweight. This is what I'm going to implement.
What if we have a flexible joint between headshell and arm. That will act as a spring just like (by way of acting only) the stylus arm. What if we use foam core kind of thing as head shell and arm connector? That should isolate the arm from the headhell for its vertical vibrations. Since Foam core or such will be of plate configuration, it will definitely transfer horizontal vibrations ( a bit less than wood).
I saw you put puf sheet between head shell and arm to isolate (or damp) vibration, so why not isolate it by this way.
I understand we can not have a foam core board alone to hold a head shell, but we can have a free hanging part of it between arm and headshell (an mm or two) to act as a spring.
I saw you put puf sheet between head shell and arm to isolate (or damp) vibration, so why not isolate it by this way.
I understand we can not have a foam core board alone to hold a head shell, but we can have a free hanging part of it between arm and headshell (an mm or two) to act as a spring.
Having a springy connection between headshell and arm tube may give rise to fluctuating VTA, and depending on the compliance of the 'spring', may even lead to bottoming of the cartridge. Using similar foam like the one used in isolator will not provide enough strength as the surfaces to be joined have very less surface area. May be a much better foam and much stronger glue will be able to hold it together.
Foam core came to my mind for this reason.
What is the ideal situation? Give as less restriction as possible to the stylus, right?
Will then Foam core be able to do that? I am just thinking and visualizing as well.
I need to make a drawing of my idea first.
A quickly drawn sketch is attached here for what I think I can do. And how I meant foam can be used.
I liked the idea of pivoting horizontally then vertically for simplicity of DIY effort. But yes, the bridge will be a thing of much effort.
This is not my idea, I got it by net search yesterday. I didn't (unfortunately) kept the link, so I will find it and post it here again if you want.
I liked the idea of pivoting horizontally then vertically for simplicity of DIY effort. But yes, the bridge will be a thing of much effort.
This is not my idea, I got it by net search yesterday. I didn't (unfortunately) kept the link, so I will find it and post it here again if you want.
Sumanta,
With tonearms all the critical geometry needs to be tight tolerance (Stiff and solid) VTA, Offset angle, effective length, overhang, a foam separating headshell and wand would change all that and ultimately SQ reproduction. One has to find an alternate ways to dampen/isolate vibrations/resonance. Kindly check Denon denon QL-Y series, Townshend Audio Excalibur, Dual 701 tuned damped. Well tempered labs tonearms.
Regards.
With tonearms all the critical geometry needs to be tight tolerance (Stiff and solid) VTA, Offset angle, effective length, overhang, a foam separating headshell and wand would change all that and ultimately SQ reproduction. One has to find an alternate ways to dampen/isolate vibrations/resonance. Kindly check Denon denon QL-Y series, Townshend Audio Excalibur, Dual 701 tuned damped. Well tempered labs tonearms.
Regards.
Made this counterweight arrangement:
Can try out after oiling is over.
One very great advantage of this type of suspended weight is that the weight can be angled slightly and the screw fastened securely to adjust azimuth. It is especially useful for an unipivot.
Can try out after oiling is over.
One very great advantage of this type of suspended weight is that the weight can be angled slightly and the screw fastened securely to adjust azimuth. It is especially useful for an unipivot.
Question time:
I've applied three layers of linseed oil so far, waiting for each layer to get reasonably dry before applying next coat. Understandably, the wooden surfaces are sticky due to the oil. After the third coat I sanded them with 1200 grit, and rubbed them down further with cotton cloth.
1) Would the oil have impregnated sufficiently by now? It's three coats over 4 days.
2) for the finish, what do folks here recommend? Varnish? Lacquer? Anything else? Combination of these? I'm not looking at using staining as I want the natural colour of the woods to show through. High gloss is my desired finish, and I'm ready to buff the hell out of it to achieve that. I am comfortable using a spray can, though hardly proficient.
I've applied three layers of linseed oil so far, waiting for each layer to get reasonably dry before applying next coat. Understandably, the wooden surfaces are sticky due to the oil. After the third coat I sanded them with 1200 grit, and rubbed them down further with cotton cloth.
1) Would the oil have impregnated sufficiently by now? It's three coats over 4 days.
2) for the finish, what do folks here recommend? Varnish? Lacquer? Anything else? Combination of these? I'm not looking at using staining as I want the natural colour of the woods to show through. High gloss is my desired finish, and I'm ready to buff the hell out of it to achieve that. I am comfortable using a spray can, though hardly proficient.
If I continue buffing the oiled surface, will it become shiny? I've never done anything with linseed, so I honestly don't know how to go about this.
Besides providing gloss, my thinking was the lacquer or varnish film would form a protective layer against moisture.
PS : how about waxing it?
keith_correa
Well-Known Member
How about lightly soaking a piece of cloth in alcohol, wiping the surface and then spraying Lacquer? Test the process of oiling + drying surface with alcohol + lacquer on another scrap of wood first though.
@Quad: I read up on Danish oil. It seems to be a mix of varnish, tung oil or linseed oil and some additives to quicken the drying, and it looks like it gets soaked into the wood and has a hard, low sheen finish. So the linseed oil that I've applied seems to take care of the impregnation part. But the "low sheen" finish caught my attention, as I would like a glossy finish. Some users recommend lacquering on top of the Danish oil.
So I'm sort of inclined towards lacquering for the final finish, without further application of Danish oil. If only I had known about Danish oil earlier, I would have used it in place of linseed oil. I also still wonder what a coat or two of wax on top of the linseed oil coat, but before the lacquer, would do to the finish. Or will the lacquer refuse to stick to the waxed surface?
I went shopping and bought a Bosny clear lacquer spray (No. 190 Clear as per their nomenclature), Rs 220, 100% Acrylic, it says on the can. Also bought a lump of wax (Rs 10).
May be I'll try out both options on non-visible parts or some spare wood and see how things turn out. Gotta suck it and see, I guess
@Keith: thanks for the tip on alcohol. At least the bottle of IPA stored away somewhere will see some use.
So I'm sort of inclined towards lacquering for the final finish, without further application of Danish oil. If only I had known about Danish oil earlier, I would have used it in place of linseed oil. I also still wonder what a coat or two of wax on top of the linseed oil coat, but before the lacquer, would do to the finish. Or will the lacquer refuse to stick to the waxed surface?
I went shopping and bought a Bosny clear lacquer spray (No. 190 Clear as per their nomenclature), Rs 220, 100% Acrylic, it says on the can. Also bought a lump of wax (Rs 10).
May be I'll try out both options on non-visible parts or some spare wood and see how things turn out. Gotta suck it and see, I guess
@Keith: thanks for the tip on alcohol. At least the bottle of IPA stored away somewhere will see some use.
keith_correa
Well-Known Member
Joshua, if you have applied raw linseed oil, be aware that it takes a couple of weeks to cure fully. After this time, there will [should?] be no stickiness and it will dry fully.
Give it that time and then decide if you need the lacquer.
Give it that time and then decide if you need the lacquer.
Jbrlycorn
New Member
Well done! Very nice job
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