I believe that Michell can make custom made acrylic armboards to match the more heavy tonearms with the Michell Gyro or Orbe.
i will ask Jonathan , about this, this was made for SME only at this moment ,, I have a michell sme one to match the holes up with ,, the problem is the High cost of the acrylic , in 120mm diameter , or even flat plate at 35mm thick , you have to leave enough to machine it flat ,, also if i may need to add a way to stop the m3 threads being ripped through the acrylic if over tightened, I am going to get a hard wood laminated to the top as a second decoupling , no need for posts or bits of rubber ,, to be held in place with M5 Nylon screws ,, no need for rubber tubing,,
You'd need threaded metal inserts for the screws, my Roksan arm boards are made of acetal and that's the approach they use. I know from looking at getting covers made that prices for acrylic and working with it vary greatly, definitely worth shopping around for quotes.
we'll i have over a meter of 129mm diameter to go through , ( evil bay ) to keep the costs down ,, the main cost is the machine shop ,, i have seen the metal inserts on eBay, i may give them a try , i have a armboard that is 100% carbon fibre , as yet i have not managed to rip the threads out of it ,, there is always that thought , i used longer bolts and m3 nuts so I cannot rip it out ,, also means I can earth the arm and the chassis using the same bolts,,
From experience acrylic doesn't like screws, you get those spider cracks, though if you are using nuts and not changing arms often it may not be much of an issue, no experience of machining acrylic I imagine it's messy and not something you want to do at home unless you have the right kit. A metre, that will make a lot of arm boards.
acrylic is not some thing you want to machine at home , it also takes a big lathe to machine the size of the arm boards, I have machined it my self in the past ,, the mess it makes would fill the shed up ,, it has been made by an engineering company , that has the tools,, I have bought the material so the extra cost involved is just the machine shop ,, as I do not make them , just designed the board for use by sme owners who may want one,, around the same price a the Gert Pederson ring oh sorry arm board , ,but a proper arm board , which is being tested this week end ..by a good friend, who will give me some No Bull feedback , the reason for the meter off acrylic ,was just down to price ,, if you google 1 meter of acrylic in 129mm diameter ,, it will scare the life out of you ,, so they will only be made whilst I have the material ,,,, after that has been used, I do not know if any more will be made,, I have the option on making different parts from this,,
the next projet is to work out how to properly support the bearing , possibly using the acrylic ,, to add to the bottom of the platter with strong double sided tape,, very hard to work out with out marking the chassis, could be sat on the chassis, and then the platter would just miss the top of the support , so it would be double sided taped to the chassis,
, Arm board fitted and sounds great ,, better depth , and speed ,, 'yip....astounding....superb detail ..speed... faster tighter bass...separation....picking the instrumenst out perfectly....much more weight and an air around the music, I've not experiemced before.....this is as good an upgrade as the pylons.......blacker back ground....wouldn't have thought this would be possible...this turntable just keeps giving and giving with the upgrades 'I'm xxxxin impressed Pete feedback off Alan ,
Hi Andy I have the twin on my deck now , but added a Oak top, now as quite as a mouse , no crackling , static seemed reduced, this is custom made to the height of the platter with a bout 6mm adjustment , as I have the funkfirm mat , the only way todo them pete
Best ever , honest , the stereo imaging will blow you away ,, clean crisp , and precise, bass is spot on,, voicing is as though the singer is in the room ,, as project it has been well worth it , the oak top was after thought ,, so it did not look as Cold, with the added benefit of decupling the acrylic ,, i used nylon bolts to hold the lot in place with M3 cap head screws and small O rings to hold the arm into position , and a decoupled the bottom of the board as well,, The Ground wire onto the chassis , and back down to the phono stage and back to the house ground using a russ Andrews router ,, so now even the sweep arm ,bearing, chassis and arm are all grounded,,, checked with a continuity tester ,, with a loss of about 95% of clicks and pops, which only leaves me with the music on the LP ,, i just did not think this deck had more to give, i was wrong , it now has in my own opinion given up its secrets of pure vinyl play back , warm and precise, but all you have to do is read the review off Mad-Moon on AOS ,, at this moment I have do not have any ,,spare , due to the cost ,,, or for any one to try ,, again due to the cost ,, pete
that is how it arrives, the other was just polished with some acrylic polish , I did not want to flame polish it ,, just incase it worped or cracked,, ,that is the way they will go out ,,
Michell Do make acrylic armboards as a special order , I have never seen one, and cannot comment any further ,
well i have been designing the rega armboard , it will have brass weight's inserted to get the mass correct , as yet it still on the waiting list , to be machined, it will have a height of 33mm with a hardwood top , unless I make them with out , but there is not a lot of adjustment on the rega arm VTA ,, when fitted to the Michell , I will keep you informed when it has been made, and up load pictures ,, the sme will not need this due to the mass of the arm being a lot heaver ATB pete
Hi Andy I was at the engineering company to day ,, Charles shown me the email , honest until I am happy with the way it will look and the correct mass for the armboard , it will not be made, also the cost ,, has yet to be machined, After the design was changed for the 3rd time, I will know in the middle of next week , they still have to be made and then put to the test , ,as I have a techno arm in the cupboard to check it sounds good, and a couple of testers that tested the pylons long before they were released,,, if it does not look good and sound good, it will not be going any were ,
, hi all it has taken a while to get these where i was happy ,, so now the testing has started,, with a home made 4mm rubber spacer ,, to keep the chassis resornance to a minimum ,, held in place with 3 nylon screws ,, the earth is then fitted to the longer nylon bolt a screws onto the chassis ,, all i can say i did not know how good the techno arm could be The brass insterts are in tight and do not move at all ,,
hi Andy it will be when i have sorted the large rubber washer out that it is sitting on , i have some 5x10mm spacers on the way ,, at this moment it is on a home made sapcer ,, and i cannot believe how good it is sounding ,, i think it is about the same as the sme 309 , or as good as ,, in some respects , it has taken weeks to get something that will do the job of 2 armboads ,, that are on the market ,,make it look better and sound better ,, it has not been polished , it is as it came off the lathe, and CNC Mill, the brass weight are need to get the correct balance for the rega arm ,, thay are not needed in the sme arm board because the SME arm is heaver in construction ,, so now it is on test for a week or so, pete
well the board has passed , and has been sold , By Truepoint ,, these are not Cheap , but look at the cost of the Gert Pederson one 150 euro , which is a plastic ring 3 screws and rubber washer ,, all plus post,, i dont sell these that is left to Truepoint who have done a very good job with the design i have give them ,,, the Ground wire off the armboard was not used,, but you can add it to the chassis if needed, this will earth all of the arm , i spent hours trying to get static on the lp with the use of this board ,, and nothing ,not a pop ,, i have even tried some 180 gram vinyl and that was fine, atb pete
Hi All well after a very bad start with one armboard being drilled incorrectly by truepoint for Blakeup , it has been sorted, never one to shy away from problems,, Truepoint some how got mixed up with the geometry for the second armboard on Blakes deck , but as he is in Canada and we are in the uk ,, it was not spotted until it arrived at blakes,, who had it redrilled, ,, he will how ever receive a replacment,, as agreed ,, it was not his fault or mine,,, But the confusing way the arm sits on the deck , Blake also has replace the arm with a new Jelco and we will send him a second board for that ,,The main jelco for the stereo side is working ,, as yet i am waiting on Blakes comments,, it is only my design ,i do not make them , have nothing to do with Truepoint or what the prices they charge , it is a total one way street ,, i was happy to do this,, The suspension is the same,, now,, to stop any confusion , i was glad they took them on so they can be used around the world, from the uk to dubai , to new zeland , canada , portugal , usa,etc ,, the deck now sounds better than ever in my opinion , the suspension was never copied, or taken for any other on the market ,, it took 4 years to get to were it is now,,, The cost of the armboards is due to the work and the brass, for the rega .and lighter arms,,it is also bespoke,, michell recommend upto 1kg to 1.1kg with the weight of the arm and board , Blakes has too different weighted arms inorder for him to balance the deck , he has more brass inserts in one side then the other , the jelco 750d being heavier than the jelco 250 , so now the deck is balanced ,, atb pete
