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My first idler TT and restoration. Building a plinth, damping, tonearm board etc. starting with mint

adnick said:
Well that looks fantastic, it just doesn’t sound fantastic :dunno: so maybe it’s just me:crazy:


Edit: When held in the hand does it feel like it’s vibrating?
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Well I can definitely tell it's running and it makes the noise you hear, probably not as loud as it is being recorded as the AGC mic gain in the phone probably exaggerates it. As soon as I unplug it the noise stops and it is silent until the spindle stops, so maybe it's the electrical pulses in the windings we are hearing. Not going to worry about it until it's all back together and presents a problem. I suppose I could try the other one as well but it is still installed in the frame and would not be a fair comparison, but WTH, I'll try it and let you know.

If anyone has the ability and access to the same motor, perhaps try making a recording of it to share here and compare to mine. I was holding it about 4" from the motor.

Cheers
 
Good day all,

I am finally back on the Russco build, getting ready to paint it this weekend. I decided against powder coat is it’s too expensive and requires much more prep than painting. I have decided on painters touch 2X apple red. My question to those of you who have restored Russco turntables, I would really like to maintain the original dimple finish so I don’t want to sand it, just wanted to spray over it, and wondering if anybody has figured out what type of paint it is the original blue or black.?

I suppose my other option would be to chemically strip it completely, and have a very smooth, shiny surface rather than the dimpled shiny surface.

thanks everybody.
 
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ve7kilohertz said:
Good day all,

I am finally back on the Russco build, getting ready to paint it this weekend. I decided against powder coat is it’s too expensive and requires much more prep than painting. I have decided on painters touch 2X apple red. My question to those of you who have restored Russco turntables, I would really like to maintain the original dimple finish so I don’t want to sand it, just wanted to spray over it, and wondering if anybody has figured out what type of paint it is the original blue or black.?

I suppose my other option would be to chemically strip it completely, and have a very smooth, shiny surface rather than the dimpled shiny surface.

thanks everybody.
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To keep the original texture you’ll have to wet sand lightly with 600 or 800, clean and paint….I’d do several cleaning passes prior to wet sanding and even add a drop of Dawn to the wet sanding water.

The black looks like a different texture but I’ve not compared them side by side, maybe Bill will chime in….

Andy
 
I think the original blue is some sort of " speckeled" paint and Andys is more a hammertone finish. I did mine in a hammertoned powder coat.
If you strip the paint it's going to have the same texture as the underside. I would clean the existing paint well and hit it with a primer intended to seal the existing paint. After that the bright red. Boy that's gonna look ass kickin with the polished platter!

BillWojo
 
Thank you, Bill and Andy,

well, I did exactly as my body shop experience dictated and I just gave it a good wash with a degreaser and thinner combination use just before paint on the car, hit it with the appropriate primer from the same series of paint, put two coats on, and let it cure for less than an hour, which is what it needed to tack up before the paint is applied. then I put the first coat of colour on which I did and it looked wonderful, it says to leave it for 2 to 3 minutes between coats which I did, and I went outside the shop to clear my lungs, then I went back inside and applied another coat except this time I grabbed the can of primer (red oxide) and I am colour blind too boot, very big seniors moment, and the sun was streaming through the window, and it was hard to tell, anyways I am now waiting for that to dry, and will apply the final colour coat shortly. If nothing else, it’s been a great adventure so far ha ha. it will certainly have a good base coat lol. Pictures will follow shortly.

thankfully, I have an infrared heater in the shop hanging from the ceiling and the turntable is underneath it right now.

I hate getting old.

cheers

oh stop laughing
 
Actually, just thinking about it now after applying the first colour coat, the second time, that extra layer of primer will probably help damp the ringing of the magnesium chassis. :rolleyes:We always have to maintain a positive outlook, L O L.
 
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Here are the pics of the final color and finish....my first instinct was crap, this guy can't paint, look at the orange peel. It's the color I had in my head, but I think the original finish, dimpled, mottled etc. might look better in flat like the original. My vision was a nice shiny red against some cedar or other light-medium colored wood for the plinth.

Paint stripper is cheap...I'll think on it and look at it tomorrow in the sun. This color is also available in satin. Ultimately this will be used in a dimly lit room and will hardly ever see the light of day.

Arg...and yet, yeah! I'm overwrought with ambivalence. :dunno:

I'm looking for thoughts and opinions.

Cheers

First in primer

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adnick said:
Mistakes what are mistakes :rflmao:don’t even want to go there:rant::no:


That’s gonna be special for sure :trebon:
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So is that a vote for or against the current finish? I am making a sprayout on a flat test panel right now for comparison.

Thanks

I setup with some unfinished wood, one in the shade the other full sun. It's hard to see the texture in the pics.

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Throw the polished platter on and the shifter gate on. Maybe a black platter matt as well to really get an idea of what it's gonna look like.
I'm not condeming it yet, I do like red....

BillWojo
 
Thanks guys,

Well the color is set, that's what I want, my question is the surface texture, do I keep the spotted/mottled surface or strip and respray smooth glossy same red? I'll post a glossy sample pic shortly.

thx
 
Keep the rough texture for sure, I'm a fan of hammertone and wrinkle finishes, not seen much anymore. They were premium finishes back in the day.

BillWojo
 
One other thing, to get a smooth glossy finish is going to require a lot of filler/sanding and work, it's a sand casting underneith. Look at the underside to get an idea of what your working with.
 
ve7kilohertz said:
Thanks guys,

Well the color is set, that's what I want, my question is the surface texture, do I keep the spotted/mottled surface or strip and respray smooth glossy same red? I'll post a glossy sample pic shortly.

thx
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This is one of those personal decisions based on taste :bigok: believe you’re going to like it either way……
 
BillWojo said:
One other thing, to get a smooth glossy finish is going to require a lot of filler/sanding and work, it's a sand casting underneith. Look at the underside to get an idea of what your working with.
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Well, that is the clincher, thank you, Bill. I just looked at the bottom of it, and that is most likely why they used the speckled spotted finish on the top side, it saves all the work smoothing out that sand casting. I even noticed some grinding marks on the square sides of the base. I’ll save the shiny, glossy, dark metallic purple for the SP 10, my next turntable project, once this one is finally finished sometime this year. Ha ha.

Cheers
 
Yea, I figured the prospect of bringing that casting up to a surface good enough for a glossy finish would deter you, I know it would me.
I gotta tell you a little secret Paul, before I settled on a "safe" color like hammertone charcoal silver, I was day dreaming of bright red myself, I'm a huge fan of polished aluminum with red paint.
Can't wait to see the finished product.

BillWojo
 
BillWojo said:
UHMW is hard to machine cleanly. You need razor sharp cutting edges, best to hone the edge after grinding. Spin the bar pretty fast and take a thin chip. Deburring is tough.
I hated working with this stuff but it's so cheap that some companys spec it.
Get some Delrin when you have a chance, machines like aluminum. Plus it doesn't change size and shape. Nobody makes high precision parts out of UHMW for a reason. But if it's what you have to work with......
Pro tip, if your milling this stuff use carbide router cutters and spin them up fast, use a steady stream of high pressure air to clear the chips and reduce heating. Heat is your enemy when machining plastic.

BillWojo
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Hi Bill et. al.

It's been a few years since I last worked on anything audio but am happy to report, "I'm back in the saddle again" and am continuing on with my Russco resto mods.

Bill, I know you are a machinist and I need your help please. I have a Hercus 260 (better designed and built SB10) and a couple of Rex 30 type milling machines, and this little collet set came with one of them but I can't find any info on the web that pertains to these. I need to chuck or mount a collet to hold the Delrin rod in my lathe so I can machine the pad.

Could you or anyone else out there ID these collets so I can find out how to mount them in my lathe? I've posted on a few machining sites as well.

Cheers

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Artisan Fidelity is best known for large, high quality custom plinths which they make for Garrard 301 idler-wheel turntables using 12" tonearms.
However, they made a beautiful one for my Technics direct drive turntable.
 
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