Re-veneered Pioneer PL-518
- Thread starter fivealive
- Start date
jlindsey86
Well-Known Member
Thats looks fantastic. Great job!
I have been thinking about doing this for a while to a Pl-518/540 or 560. Which ever one falls into my lap first. The only thing keeping me from doing it was the fact I didnt know how difficult it would be to remove the base right around the tone arm and assemble it back again. Was it very difficult?
I have been thinking about doing this for a while to a Pl-518/540 or 560. Which ever one falls into my lap first. The only thing keeping me from doing it was the fact I didnt know how difficult it would be to remove the base right around the tone arm and assemble it back again. Was it very difficult?
ekmanning5
Time has told me...
Great job! Do mine next! Do mine next!
For anyone thinking about doing this to a Pl-518 (I can't speak for any other TT):
Disassembling the unit is very easy, and re-assembling is even easier. The only thing you have to have that you might not already own is a hex-key set. The screws that keep the tone-arm assembly in place require hex-keys to remove. Get a decent one from home-depot that has like 20 hex-keys, and the four hex-screws will come out with ease.
The plinth is just a big wooden donut, and the tone-arm assembly passes through this hole very easily. Rest the tone-arm assembly on the bare metal chassis, using one of the rubber feet as a spacer. Leave that whole thing in a safe place and just turn all attention to the ugly plinth.
The vinyl covering on the plinth comes off very easy. Start at a corner with a finger nail to get a start, then heat a small portion from that corner with a very hot iron and the just peel. You could use a wood chisel to help with this step but I found my hands to be all the tool I needed for this step. The sides come off leaving a little glue residue, which you can attack later with the iron, a wood chisel to scrape up that tacky gunk, and then sandpaper to chafe and smooth it in preparation for gluing.
The top veneer is very thin and comes off easier than a sticker on glass.
Use a veneer kit to make the sides and the top. The top is a little tricky because of the holes, but the PL-518 is designed to make your life easy. The platter and the tone-arm assembly will extend over the attachment area, so you don't need a perfect cut on the veneer. The edge imperfection with respect to the inner plinth hole will be covered up entirely by the platter and assembly, so don't worry too much.
Attach the sides first. Use contact cement. The contact cement is applied generously on both the veneer and the plinth, then allowed to dry. At this point the contact cement will not stick to anything except another surface that's covered in contact cement -- and when that happens, it is absolutely permanent. So cover the plinth side with a piece of wax paper, align the veneer (over-cut it by about a half-inch in each dimension), and then slowly pull the wax paper away and use the back of a wooden discwasher or other rounded wooden implement to apply pressure to the small exposed area. Slowly work your way down the entire side. Let the two surfaces bond for 15 minutes or so, then sand off the excess areas (carefully and slowly) with a medium-grit sandpaper.
Do this to all sides and you've got a reveneered plinth. Finish according to the wood that you've chosen -- for cherry, I used just a lightly application of teak oil. Re-assembly is a piece of cake. Test a record or two -- the auto-return might need 1 or 2 tries before the gears are properly re-calibrated to their intended positions, but re-assembly will not require you to worry about gear positions or anything like that.
Disassembling the unit is very easy, and re-assembling is even easier. The only thing you have to have that you might not already own is a hex-key set. The screws that keep the tone-arm assembly in place require hex-keys to remove. Get a decent one from home-depot that has like 20 hex-keys, and the four hex-screws will come out with ease.
The plinth is just a big wooden donut, and the tone-arm assembly passes through this hole very easily. Rest the tone-arm assembly on the bare metal chassis, using one of the rubber feet as a spacer. Leave that whole thing in a safe place and just turn all attention to the ugly plinth.
The vinyl covering on the plinth comes off very easy. Start at a corner with a finger nail to get a start, then heat a small portion from that corner with a very hot iron and the just peel. You could use a wood chisel to help with this step but I found my hands to be all the tool I needed for this step. The sides come off leaving a little glue residue, which you can attack later with the iron, a wood chisel to scrape up that tacky gunk, and then sandpaper to chafe and smooth it in preparation for gluing.
The top veneer is very thin and comes off easier than a sticker on glass.
Use a veneer kit to make the sides and the top. The top is a little tricky because of the holes, but the PL-518 is designed to make your life easy. The platter and the tone-arm assembly will extend over the attachment area, so you don't need a perfect cut on the veneer. The edge imperfection with respect to the inner plinth hole will be covered up entirely by the platter and assembly, so don't worry too much.
Attach the sides first. Use contact cement. The contact cement is applied generously on both the veneer and the plinth, then allowed to dry. At this point the contact cement will not stick to anything except another surface that's covered in contact cement -- and when that happens, it is absolutely permanent. So cover the plinth side with a piece of wax paper, align the veneer (over-cut it by about a half-inch in each dimension), and then slowly pull the wax paper away and use the back of a wooden discwasher or other rounded wooden implement to apply pressure to the small exposed area. Slowly work your way down the entire side. Let the two surfaces bond for 15 minutes or so, then sand off the excess areas (carefully and slowly) with a medium-grit sandpaper.
Do this to all sides and you've got a reveneered plinth. Finish according to the wood that you've chosen -- for cherry, I used just a lightly application of teak oil. Re-assembly is a piece of cake. Test a record or two -- the auto-return might need 1 or 2 tries before the gears are properly re-calibrated to their intended positions, but re-assembly will not require you to worry about gear positions or anything like that.
That should work, thanks for the tip.
Glen B
Super Member
I sent you an e-mail.
MuthaFunk
Vinyl Addict
Thanks Glen B!!!!:thmbsp:
Glen B
Super Member
Here's the file in positive and negative versions in case anyone else wants it.
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