DIY Recording Cleaning Machine - working model!

Finally completed a working model of a DIY record cleaning machine. Actually, it works so good I may not worry about making it purty looking.

The only things I used was a $5 ice cream maker motor, a spindle and platter from a free Pioneer turntable, an $80 VPI tube and wand assembly from elusivedisc.com, some vacuum hose from Home Depot for around $6, and 5/8" plywood.

Because of the type of spindle I really couldn't tie the platter and ICM motor directly together. So I used some gears from a Ford F150 spare tire lift - it was laying in my junk pile. And talk about torque!

I didn't incorporate a vacuum in the box. I'm just going to use my shop vac that I have. I have a hose running from the bottom of the VPI tube over to a fitting that goes through the inside of the box. Then I just stick the hose from the shop vac onto what's sticking out on the outside. The record hold down is a large bearing installer that I have at my shop. Hey, it works!

The box is only 16" square and 6" high. And doesn't weigh very much. Pretty simple RCM.

I had a Nazareth No Mean City LP that I wouldn't play because it popped and clicked so bad. So I cleaned it just to see the difference. DAMN! It is amazing how this record sounds now!

I'll post some pics tomorrow.

Nice!!!

How did you couple the motor to the platter?

I used the gears from the spare tire lift. I epoxied one of the gears directly to the motor and the other gear is just stuck to the spindle because it had a magnet on the bottom of it.

Here are some pics:

and a few more

There ya go Scott! Now put some waterproofing and paint on her and you`ve got it.

Waterproofing and paint?

Can you talk more about the gears? I don't understand what they are or what they were used for in the truck.

On the newer Ford trucks there is a lift for the spare tire - you use a handle that sticks in it and you can lower and raise the spare tire. The gears came from the inside of one of those. The only reason I used those was because of the spindle that I had from a newer plastic Pioneer linear tracking TT.