Aeolian Vocalian

[Inigo]

Looks fantastic! Congratulations.
When I proceed to install my new tonearm and lid prop, and rewax my machine, I should also document the process as you did.
Your Tonearm seems as solid as my new one in that problematic area of the vertical-lateral set screw. Not as my original one, that is clearly thinner in that area, no doubt this caused it to break long time ago. My current repair is not the first one... it was glued together when I bought it 25 years ago. Sincere then I've repaired that joint 4 or 5 times... Yet with the repair, the machine performs very well, and it is my only machine where I can play my bunch of pathé records.

[Lah Ca]

Looks fantastic! Congratulations.

Thank you.

When I proceed to install my new tonearm and lid prop, and rewax my machine, I should also document the process as you did.

Good idea. I know from some guitar sites that I participate in that documentation is often helpful for other people coming along after. It also makes sites important repositories of reference information.

[Lah Ca]

The Brake Pad

A hardware store in my neighbourhood is having a going out of business sale. I wandered around and found some furniture pads of exactly the right size for use as brake pads, a 75-piece pack.

The existing brake pad was very easily shaved off with a razor sharp knife.

As this is an experiment, I did not clean up the end of the cork pad much. The shaving had produced a quite smooth flat surface. I peeled a pad off the sheet of pads and stuck it on, an exact fit. I put a small spring-loaded clamp on it for a couple of hours, and then I tested it out.

It works quite well, so far. It provides a slightly slower, more gradual, gentle stop than the abrupt near-immediate stop of the original. This may change as the pad compresses, wears, and conforms more to the curvature of the platter. It remains to be seen how well the pad wears and how well the adhesive holds. For the moment, it is all good.

[Inigo]

Nice! If it works well, and later the adhesive goes off, you can re-glue it with a more reliable contact glue or something.
Just a suggestion... These felt pads for furniture legs are also made in a much more discreet dark brown colour, and are very cheap. If you could find that, it would match better, I think...In my AV machine I glued a small leather pad, which works very well, also stops the turntable gently...