DIY Record Vacuum RCM

Hi all,
Recently finished making a DIY RCM and thought i would post up some pics for others thinking of doing the same. I realise there are other posts on this but i think this is a very simple design that most could follow and ive had great results so far.

Pictures:

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This is a bit of a prototype model and is yet to be refined however even in its current form is highly effective and very cheap. I will list my parts and measurements but be aware this is all metric.

I used MDF to make the table which isnt ideal but its cheap and once its painted its ok. Size up to you really mine is 450mm x 350mm and 300mm high 16 mm thick.

The turntable is a cheap lazy susan off ebay $10USD or so (type multipurpose turntable in ebay). I am using an audio technica felt mat but you could DIY anything. What i dont recommend here is anti slip shelf liner or those thin yoga mats as they leave a residue on the record.

The vacuum wand is made from the following:
-25mm pvc pipe 120mm long with a 100mm long slot
-25mm 90 degree angle joint with a 40mm 25mm pvc pipe joiner
-I used a chair leg rubber end to plug the end of the pipe but gluing an acrylic disc here would be better
-The actual vacuum slot is made from 1.5mm acrylic plate (3mm would be better) cut to 30mm wide and 100mm long with a 95mm long slot cut into it (used a dremel mini angle grinder disc), super glued to the slot cut in the pipe
-The vacuum brushes are genuine nitty gritty pads which work way better than trying to DIY with velvet ribbon and worth the extra cost
-I suggest making 2 vacuum wands, one for fluid wash and one for distilled water rinse


The label clamp and what is also used to spin the record is made from the following:
-The top is a 90mm pvc end cap
-The middle is a 3mm acrylic disc with 100mm diameter superglued to the end cap
-The bottom is a 105mm outside diameter O-Ring which is actually called quad ring (x shaped square seals way better than the round or regular square o rings), the cross section on the oring is 4mm, this is superglued to the acrylic disc
-The whole thing is drilled through the middle
-The turn table has a hole drilled into it with an M6 bolt glued into the hole
-A wingnut screws down onto the top of the clamp to secure the record and stop it from slipping whilst being rotated
-Done with accurate measurements this is highly effective and will not slip or leak
-Side note dont use super glue as it leaches into the plastic and discolours it

The under side of the table is made up of 25mm pipe and 25mm pvc straight couplings. I used a hole saw to cut the holes in the table. I also cut a slot into the long pipe on the under side with a slide piece so i can vary the level of suction. I use a 1250 watt wet dry vac and at full suction i think its perfect. This whole thing will cost $120 max including buying a wet dry vac.

Cheers Guys.

 

Looks like a very nice job. For those who don't want to do all the work, you can spend another $40 and get a KAB.

 

Thats pretty cool.

I've been wanting a RCM or building one but havent gotten around to it. Besides being easy to work with, why did you choose MDF over another wood like popular or something?

For the time being, I use a couple of old TT and a broken carpet steam vac. Using L'art Du Son cleaning fluid I manually clean the records and use the wand attacthment on the broken vac. I put a strip of soft velcro on the hand piece. I hope Im not damaging the records by my crude methods... So far its doing a great job and I like the control I have over the whole process.

 

I made my own last summer - a cheap monitor turntable (exactly like yours, I think), which I opened up and screwed into a flat .5" thick board, some cheap cork from Michael's for a cork mat (most likely not real cork; doesn't seem to have any negative effects; cheap enough that I can replace with something else), and a velvet-covered wand from Ebay that I can connect to my little DeWalt wet/dry vac. Battery-powered, but power doesn't seem to be a problem. Making a handle to turn the thing was tricky but I think it turned out OK.

 

I built my own RCM a while back. I experienced serious scope creep.

New project - RCM ** Finished at last! ** »

 

Very nice work, well done. Sure beats spending a couple of thousand.

 

Are vacuums for records available as stand alone items or only part of a RCM set?

 

RCM is designed specificaly for records but you can totally use a wet vac with a proper attachment for it. you are basically taking the fluid off the record after you wash it.

 

Thanks for the response but I don't know what a vac is, what would I search for online or on Amazon?

 

vacuum

 

So you're talking about using a regular vacuum?? I thought it was going to be a smaller, less powerful one - desktop size like the ones you use to clean keyboards

 

Like a shop vac.

hmm I dont know about those handheld desktop ones, maybe the water would ruin the motor. They probably dont have a collection system designed for fluid either.

 

I use a battery-powered, handheld Dewalt. It has to be a wet-dry vac. There might be other small wet/dry options out there.

 

This is the KAB, it uses a regular household vac.

 

My DIY RCM is almost done, I just need to find a VPI HW-16.5 upgrade kit to implement as the vacuum attachment.