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Drive suggestions for DIY RCM?

sanlanman

sanlanman

Well-Known Member
(Updated: 10/30/09 See post 24 and beyond. I made a prototype.)

OK Guys, I have made my on vacuum and wand(s) setup to vacuum off the cleaning fluid. I have microfiber towels on hand, cleaning solution, and even made the hand held record label clamp. But the one thing I am still stumped on is a device with plenty of torque to spin the record while scrubbing it and vacuuming it. Normal turntable drives are too weak.
I can pick up old belt drive turntables at a nearby flea market fairly cheap which should yield a platter and bearing, but coming up with a powered drive mechanism has me stumped. I have even looked into a potters wheel as a base to mount a platter on, but they are almost as expensive as a VPI machine. Please share your experiences and ideas.
 
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Slow speed and high torque is what most folks look for. Motors from ice cream makers seem like a popular choice while others think that these are even too fast.

Personally I'm still spinning mine by hand
 
Or a cheap cordless drill. nice and slow, lots of torque.

You can also run them from mains power with some mods.

Danny.
 
What you need is a geared drive motor, which by reduction of rotation speed achieves high torque. The ice cream machines are a good example.

You could achieve the speed reduction with belts, however high torque requires serious belt tensioning to ensure good contact. Not belt drive TT belts but automotive belts.
 
I have an ice cream motor for mine but the other day a guy I had just met gave me an industrail motor the is gear reduced and spins at either 2 or 3.5 RPM depending on the way I wire it....or have a switch for both. It is perfect, but the ice cream motor is good to and only cost me $3.00 at the SA.
 
Do the forward and reverse feature switches that some folks use adaptable to all types of motors?
 
I can't help but think that for those people using ice cream and bread machine motors, they're setting themselves up for this being the weak link in their RCM.

Check out Grainger. The motor of your dreams won't be that expensive and in the cost to your build will only be a fractional expense over scrounging one.
 
I have the motor that drives the rotisserie on a grill. Very slow, lots of torque.
 
motor coupling/

For those of you using ice cream churn motors or rotisserie motors, how did you couple the motor to the turntable platter?
 
MarkW's (and my) approach is to use a belt-drive platter and bearing. MarkW used a cordless screwdriver body with a rubber RC airplane tail wheel mounted on its shaft to drive the platter using the belt surface. I'll do something similar if I ever get around to it.
 
winters860 said:
I can't help but think that for those people using ice cream and bread machine motors, they're setting themselves up for this being the weak link in their RCM.

Check out Grainger. The motor of your dreams won't be that expensive and in the cost to your build will only be a fractional expense over scrounging one.
Click to expand...


I just picked up a pasta maker at GW for $5.99 and it's reversible. I don't think Grainger is gonna beat that.
 
Coupling Ice Cream Motors

sanlanman said:
For those of you using ice cream churn motors or rotisserie motors, how did you couple the motor to the turntable platter?
Click to expand...
Here's what I did. You can buy a two part epoxy called "Liquid Metal" or something like that. I took a platter of a POS Sony TT that someone gave me. It worked great because the spindle is permanently affixed to the platter. I took the plastic top to the ice cream churn and epoxied it to the bottom of the platter. The bottom of the spindle stuck halfway in the hole and helped me align the parts.

I then mounted the motor upside down on the 3/4 inch plywood top to my RCM. I guess I'm lucky because the top of the motor sticks through the hole almost exactly flush with the top. I then just set the lid with the platter attached on the motor! I had been thinking of different ways to stabilize the platter, but didn't need to. The little bit of give actually helps get the arm in contact with the record and even follows mildly warped records.

There's only one big downside to my RCM design. Every time I wash records, my wife has a Pavlovian response to the noise of the churn motor!
 
The best "motor" is your hand!

There is no reason the platter can't be spun manually, and I'd argue that I've got far better control over the cleaning process (spin both directions, vary the speed) than if my RCM were motorized.

Here's how I constructed a hold down clamp w/ offset spinner handle:

-Weld a short length of 1/4 x 20 bolt onto the spindle.
-Using an oxy-acetylene torch, cut a round disc (slightly smaller than the average LP label) out of a piece of 1/2" plate steel. Glue a rubber ring (cut from truck innertube) onto one side of the disc, to protect the record labels.
-Drill a 9/32" hole in the center of the steel disc.
-Drill a pilot hole near the edge of the disc and then tap 1/4x20 threads into the hole.
-Find a suitable wooden knob and drill a 1/4" hole through it.
-Using a 1/4 x 20 bolt of suitable length, affix the knob to the disc, allowing clearance so that the knob spins freely.

In actual operation:

-Place record on platter.
-Place disc/hold down clamp on spindle and screw nut on to hold it tight against the record.
-Spin the platter & record!

Very simple. No motors and nothing to break or wear out.

I realize that not everyone has welding equipment, but the same thing can be made out of wood.

Here are some photos of my DIY RCM at the RCG website:

http://www.recordcollectorsguild.org/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=40503
 
cactuscowboy, thanks for your input , but the best motor is NOT your hand when some records are going to get the steam cleaning treatment.

The electric screwdriver with RC airplane tire drive sounds intriguing and I will look into that. I missed an opportunity to snag a motorized base to a rotating emergency light that had an all metal motorized gear drive assembly.
More drive ideas are welcomed.

Thanks to all who responded, more responses encouraged.
 
Am planning on using bread machine w/ belt drive reduction and idler wheel spinning the tt platter. For now. Am still working out how scrub and get suction without either overcoming the idler drive (it'll just slip, which is better than stalling out the motor) or picking the record off the platter. So the question of torque depends on other parts of the design that I haven't settled on yet. Eventually I will get sufficiently sick of cleaning records by hand that I will whip this thing together. :)

Some details on where I'm at with this, so far: http://bot-thoughts.blogspot.com/2008/08/squeaky-vinyl-cleaner-robot.html --- particularly this link for the drive mechanism: http://bot-thoughts.blogspot.com/2008/08/squeaky-platter-drive.html
 
sanlanman said:
cactuscowboy, thanks for your input , but the best motor is NOT your hand when some records are going to get the steam cleaning treatment.

The electric screwdriver with RC airplane tire drive sounds intriguing and I will look into that. I missed an opportunity to snag a motorized base to a rotating emergency light that had an all metal motorized gear drive assembly.
More drive ideas are welcomed.

Thanks to all who responded, more responses encouraged.
Click to expand...

Send MarkW a PM, he'd be happy to send pics. He had a thread about his RCM somewhere.
 
Okay, remember the pasta maker I bought yesterday for $5.99 at GW? Well, I decided to see what I could do with it.

Because the motor and output is on the same side I had to take it apart and flop the motor and gears over so the motor would be on the opposite side. Once I did that I epoxied a tire and wheel from a 1/24 scale model car to the plastic output of the pasta maker - the part that the mixer slides into. Then I cut a hole in the metal plate using a hole saw for the turntable spindle that I stole from a Pioneer PL-117D belt drive TT that I bought for $5. Then I attached the spindle to the plate. I am using the INSIDE of the lip that the belt used to spin the platter.

And there you go! I just sit the platter down on the spindle, place the mat on the platter, and use my $5 record clamp that I bought from a sporting goods store.

Took me about an hour to rig this up. It spins alot slower (about 9 RPM) than the RCM I made using an ice cream maker motor, plus this one goes in both directions. This one will be the keeper, most definitely.
 

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