samid
Active Member
Hi all,
A few months ago I "won" a Garrard 301 motor (with oil bearing). It did not have a plinth, so I made a temporary one out of a sheet of MDF, and decided to build a standard plywood one. It took me about a month to complete, and I wanted to share my "build log". It is not a proper log, as initially I did not take photos of my build at all, and even when I started taking photos I omitted many steps. Still, here goes...
I bought some 3/4" Russian birch plywood and had it cut into 22"x19" pieces, and used 7 layers. I have a SME 3012 tonearm, and initially was going to just have a fixed cutout for it. But then I decided that I might as well have an interchangeable armboard, so it was added as an afterthought (a bit more on this later). I rounded the corners with a router, using a cutout from a 3" hole saw as the template. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of making the cutouts, but here is the result - note the 4 pilot holes in the corners, used them to align the pieces:
The armboard well and the armboard (a 3/4" thick piece of plywood glued to a 1/2" one):
View from the back:
Veneered the top of the armboard, and drilled the holes for the tonearm, using the base of the SME as the template:
M4 socket screws fit the SME just right:
...to be continued.
A few months ago I "won" a Garrard 301 motor (with oil bearing). It did not have a plinth, so I made a temporary one out of a sheet of MDF, and decided to build a standard plywood one. It took me about a month to complete, and I wanted to share my "build log". It is not a proper log, as initially I did not take photos of my build at all, and even when I started taking photos I omitted many steps. Still, here goes...
I bought some 3/4" Russian birch plywood and had it cut into 22"x19" pieces, and used 7 layers. I have a SME 3012 tonearm, and initially was going to just have a fixed cutout for it. But then I decided that I might as well have an interchangeable armboard, so it was added as an afterthought (a bit more on this later). I rounded the corners with a router, using a cutout from a 3" hole saw as the template. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of making the cutouts, but here is the result - note the 4 pilot holes in the corners, used them to align the pieces:
The armboard well and the armboard (a 3/4" thick piece of plywood glued to a 1/2" one):
View from the back:
Veneered the top of the armboard, and drilled the holes for the tonearm, using the base of the SME as the template:
M4 socket screws fit the SME just right:
...to be continued.