WW2 phonograph toner arm

[OrthoFan]

There should also be some ball bearings between the bottom face of the tone arm and a corresponding face in the base plate. Some or all of these may be missing.

I've owned five portables equipped with the exact same style tonearm, and none had ball bearings. The flat support C-Clip simply held the tonearm to the base, and also acted as the swivel joint. (A really cheap design.) In one case, I had to do some careful sanding to make the tonearm move freely back and forth. I also found that slathering some light grease around the area helped curb the air leaks and improved the sound quality somewhat. (See: viewtopic.php?t=30792)

I was trying to find a decent photo online of the underside of the tonearm's base, but no luck. I did find this one, which is an even cheaper design, showing what's left of the support clamp.

(BTW, I noticed that Anthony, the OP has not logged into the site for over a week. He never read the PM I sent to him in response to one he sent me last week, nor did he respond to my email message. Hopefully he's still "among the quick." )

OrthoFan