My plywood plinth for Garrard 301

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:
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The armboard well and the armboard (a 3/4" thick piece of plywood glued to a 1/2" one):
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View from the back:
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Veneered the top of the armboard, and drilled the holes for the tonearm, using the base of the SME as the template:
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M4 socket screws fit the SME just right:
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...to be continued.
 
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That is similar to the one I built. I also like the rounded edges. You did a much better job at the cut outs and arm board than I did. Great work!!
 
For finish, I decided on 'French polish' with shellac, but as I had zero experience with it I decided to start with the armboard. It did not come out perfect, but good enough (the plinth has not been glued yet on this photo):
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I used brass inserts for all bolts:
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The four for the turntable screws are in place:
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Test fit:
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...to be continued.
 
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I added 4 more dowels to improve rigidity (also can be seen here a path from the motor to the arm well, added just in case):
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Final review of all 7 layers before glue-up:
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Ready for glue-up:
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...
 
I used Titebond Liquid Hide glue, but having since read a bit about it I think this was a mistake. As far as I could understand from what I read, the main/only advantage of it is that it allows "disassembly" - meaning that it is less strong than the regular white PVA type. Which is useless in this application. I glued the first 4 layers first:

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waited a short while, then added the other 3 layers:
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Cannot have too many clamps:


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All done:
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After LOTS of sanding, veneering the top (used Heat-Lock glue from veneersupplies.com), and rounding the edges:
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...
 

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After applying garnet shellac using the 'French polish' method:
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Not as shiny as the real French polish should look (ideally, it should be like a mirror) but will do:
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Two more brass inserts to hold the IEC socket:
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I also added a coat of shellac to the insides:
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Threaded inserts here too to hold the armboard (I actually installed them before glue-up).
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Now the only thing left to do is to install the motor and the arm...
 
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Done and spinning:
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Looks fine but - here it shows that the armboard was added as an afterthought (see first post) - had I planned it from the beginning, I would have moved the TT and the arm to the left. As it is now, it looks a bit off (too much space on the left, too little on the right):
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But overall, I think it came out ok.

The end :)
 
Beautifully done, sir! I like the idea of hide glue, and can't imagine you'll have cause to regret using it.

Love your 301, too. It reminds me of the one I used to have... :(
 
Thanks! Re hide glue - me too :) that is, I also liked the idea. But from what I've read since, its main point is that it allows taking the glued parts apart - which is hardly an advantage in this application. Not really saying I'm regretting it - just that there was no point in using it here, as far as I understand now.
 
Samid, This is a great looking plinth. I would like to do something similar. How did you come up with the shape/dimensions for the openings in the lower layers? I have the full size template for the Top Layers But I am having a hard time figuring out how to do the lower ones. Thanks for an advice you can provide
 
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