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custom plinth...

Bkphoto

Bkphoto

Super Member
I have 2 of the same TT...don't ask, long story...

anyway, I have an idea, I can get a lot of different exotic woods here and there are a lot of CNC places also...could i strip one of these tables, bring it to a CNC machine shop and have them copy it on a nice piece of exotic hardwood (same size and thickness of TT)...and if it doesn't work i still have the TT i'm using so I'm not ruining something I need...

if so, should i look for the heaviest and hardest wood available...? or are there other attributes that are just as important...

Thanks,
BK
 
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If you're looking into it, you should look into making the plinth as mass'y as possible. Try to get away from the hollow box base.
You could do a lot worse than signing up at www.lencoheaven.net This is a site dedicated to a certain type of TT.. It also happens to be a hotbed of plinth building, with extremely active builders posting a constant stream of ideas. These ideas can be easily included in other base builds.
 
i wanted to use all the components i already have....its a ProJect Carbon...i have 2 of them so i really don't have any pressure of "oh my god I've ruined it"

so in essence it would be the same, just heavier, and better looking, then i can redo the cheap wiring ...

or am i crazy...
 
Warping will be a concern. There was a thread where a guy redesigned a Scout plinth that eventually warped. Choose carefully.
 
Can't you have something like Granite or Marble CNC'd? That would be pretty cool (and stable) Sometimes you can get remnants really cheap and you don't need a large piece. I would think that would be an easy table to re-plinth no matter which way you go (fairly simple design).
 
I wouldn't be using solid wood for structure as it will warp over time, count on it. I restore pianos and I get a giggle out of people who say to me that they have a "solid walnut (substitute wood type) piano. Nope. They are all ply with veneer and have been for an incredibly long time because the play is dimensionally stable. Any instrument of solid wood wouldn't hold pitch at all for any length of time, plus cracking would be an issue. Ply or something else without a single grain structure (MDF etc.) is the way to go.
 
damn....

even the crazy exotics like heartwood, etc...?

so much for that idea...:pity:
 
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Stone makes a fine plinth. I've built two from soapstone, and, have conversed with others who built from granite.
 
Bkphoto said:
damn....

even the crazy exotics like heartwood, etc...?

so much for that idea...:pity:
Click to expand...

Like I said at the start,… there is massive information regarding plinth building at www.lencoheaven.net Your thoughts have been bantered back and forth over there for years.

Stacked plywood leaves with outer hardwood edge banding would be stable.
 
Most of the beautiful exotics have rather pronounced and highly directional grain. That is part of what makes them so desirable. It also makes them not very stable.

The more stable woods have much less visibly-dramatic grains.

You want mass and stability? Lignum Vitae Not very pretty, though.

Get good Baltic Birch plywood, build your plinth, and practice your veneering skills.

Alternatively, you can clad the outside with thin lumber from your Purpleheart or Zebrawood or Cocobola or...

That would give you enough thickness to, say, round over the top edges, if you wished.
 
thanks guys, i got overly excited....I have a guy who sells exotic wood and another who works in a CNC machine shop...sitting today listening to some vinyl and had a brain fart...

will check out lencoheaven...
 
luvvinvinyl said:
Most of the beautiful exotics have rather pronounced and highly directional grain. That is part of what makes them so desirable. It also makes them not very stable.

The more stable woods have much less visibly-dramatic grains.

You want mass and stability? Lignum Vitae Not very pretty, though.

Get good Baltic Birch plywood, build your plinth, and practice your veneering skills.

Alternatively, you can clad the outside with thin lumber from your Purpleheart or Zebrawood or Cocobola or...

That would give you enough thickness to, say, round over the top edges, if you wished.
Click to expand...
My thoughts exactly, for it it is worth. It doesn't have to be strictly veneer, but the inner structure needs to be as stable as possible.
 
That's what I would do. Baltic Birch or MDF then Veneer. I have built a few and they are very stable and don't move.
 
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