I Want To Build My First Turntable....Help!!

daza152

Super Member
Hey guys I've been collecting vinyl seriously for many many years and have only now found myself wanting to build a turntable. I would like to start off with something simple, I am ok with electrics but not what I would call a rockstar Electronic wizz. I can follow step by step photo images of How to Do....most things, so should I buy new parts and assemble or find broken turntables and strip parts off them? if you could please give me some advice or how and where to start this would be really appreciated! Thanks.

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Start by refurbishing a classic turntable. Building from scratch isn't for the meek, what are your design goals?

What tools at your disposal? If you're making the moving parts you need a big lathe, and know how to use it.

Could take a thorens like a TD-160 and build a beautiful plinth for it... Or could go all out and machine everything.

I've only ever seen one totally home made turntable and tonearm... On a trip to the former soviet Union, I met an audiophile who made it in a military focused machine shop before communism ended .. Everything including the tonearm and bearings all made by hand. Wad beautiful work but he said he got the geometry wrong with the tonearm and was never satisfied. He replaced it with a high end Denon and it was sitting on his balcony, literally hundreds of hours of work in it.

Keep in mind that every single part of even a cheap turntable has been very carefully considered to control resonance, its a very big project to do this successfully.
 
Old idlers like Rek-O-Kuts (and the ilk) have great platters and bearings that you can find relatively inexpensively and can be converted to belt drive (as long as they are the straight sided platters.
 
+1 on finding an old Rek-O-Kut, though the price has gone up a bit. That gets you a nice big spindle and heavy aluminum platter. You can use the original Pabst motor, or come up with your own phase locked DC motor design. There are lots of threads over at diyAudio on arms and related topics. Maybe do an air bearing linear tracker?

You can machine everything yourself, but as said above, platters take a big lathe. I can't do one on my little 1947 Logan, but can crank one around on a rotary table on the mill. Ugg. A slab of 1" Delrin makes a great platter, plenty of mass and doesn't ring. About $70 for a 1 foot square. There's a bearing design you can make with an automotive or motorcycle valve and bronze valve guide.

If you start with something like a Rek-O-Kut, you can play your first records in a week or so. If you do it all from scratch, it will take a bit longer. Big electrical knowledge not required- this is mostly a precision mechanical job and hopefully some pretty woodworking.
 
My suggestion to the OP would be to buy an old changer for $20.00 or so and hack it up to build a manual turntable. The changer will have most of the parts you will need, motor, platter spindle, bearing, tone-arm, etc. Disassembling the components down to the bearings will reveal how they work. Putting it all back together and actually improving upon the original will test your mechanical abilities.

If you are successful and still inspired to build another, you could then move on to a manual idler like a Rek-O-Kut or even a broadcast turntable to create something special.

I would not recommend starting with a Rek-O-Kut which are great turntables. I have seen a few that were mauled by first-timers rendering them almost worthless.
 
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The classic idler with the knob in front, yeah. Some of the others I wouldn't hesitate if the price is right.
 
A properly restored Rek-O-Kut, be it idler or belt drive, will be more valuable and perform much better than anything hobbled together by a novice. Although, they can be improved upon, but only by someone who knows what they are doing.
 
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The 2 tables on the bottom shelf are built from AR turntable parts I built a number of years ago.

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In both cases, the platter bearing, sub platter, platter and pulley were used from beat up AR tables. Using this combination solves the pulley sizing problem (and hence the speed problem). The motor for both was a Hurst with the appropriate shaft diameter for the existing pulley. This also solves the belt problem as it requires only the standard AR belt. The distance from the platter bearing to the tonearm pivot (center) is determined by the tonearm mounting specifications. In both turntables, the motor assembly is a stand alone unit, not connected to the main structure, only thru the drive belt.

Wayner
 
A properly restored Rek-O-Kut, be it idler or belt drive, will be more valuable and perform much better than anything hobbled together by a novice. Although, they can be improved upon, but only by someone who knows what they are doing.
Not advocating tearing up a nice complete B12H or anything but I have seen many bearing wells and platters available for short money which wouldn't be harming anything. I have also seen quite a few of the early two speed models with the hideous borg death cube motors that could be had inexpensively to harvest the platter and bearing and would say this could be easily improved upon.

I would also argue that properly implemented, you could create a quieter platform with more precise speed control using something akin to the Esoteric DC motor and controller. Plus you could create any virtually any plinth your heart desires for the look you want...
 
Hey thanks guys all great useful info there. To bring my knowledge of parts up I might look for some turntable thats not working get it cheap strip it down for parts if can't be fixed and maybe build up a stock pile of parts then after taking them apart build up somethimng nice ressembling a Rega or Linn Sondek LP12. cheers.
 
Buy some good parts and give this building a turntable a try. The worst thing that could happen is it won't sound the best but you will still have some quality parts to try again. We learn the most from our failures. I am presently building a table with a JVC TT-71 and a Yamaha YA-9 tone arm. I also picked up an on the fly VTA stand which will work really nicely with the arm. The wood is bamboo and I am going to have some lead inserts installed to make sure the sound resonance is deadened. If it doesn't sound to great I can still use the TT-71 and the arm on another plinth but I will darned if the lack of experience is going to stop me from trying. Go for it and enjoy.
 
A few words of caution from a guy that's only a few weeks/months further down this path than the OP:

Like all of the facets of the audio addiction, building or refurbing turntables can get out of hand fast, and what starts as a seemingly simple project mushrooms into a roomfull of parts and carcasses and small expenses that seemed insignificant at first, but mount up to real money if you're not careful.

Heed the advice of the previous posters; start with a simple Rek-O-Kut, Thorens TD-160/165 or AR overhaul and beautification. I suggest sticking with the tonearm that comes with your turntable, if it's useable. The most frustrating thing I've done so far is re-wiring a Thorens tonearm. You'll learn a lot from that, and that knowledge will really be useful to you when and if you decide to move up to something fancier, either on the project at hand, or the Dream Machine you envision next.
 
Hey guys I think if you could point in the right direction on that actual basic fundamentals regarding how a turntable works and the tone arm to learn part names and the theory works pictures will help for this... Thanks
 
Here is one of my tables I call ARmod. Obviously made from AR parts, a Hayden motor and a Rega RB-300 arm. Very quite, very simple and very reliable.
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Wayner
 
so pretty much you can use any parts be them different brands together doing there own part tomake up a working turntable etc... the platter the tone arm the moto? is this correct in assumming this much?
Here is one of my tables I call ARmod. Obviously made from AR parts, a Hayden motor and a Rega RB-300 arm. Very quite, very simple and very reliable.
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Wayner
Great looking turntable Wayner.
 
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