Shopsmith has a speed reduction attachment with 7:1 ratio. Works well for large pieces on the lathe. The bandsaw can be slowed for metal cutting. The drill press also becomes more versatile with slower speeds.

I still think that 31rpm is too fast for record cleaning. At 3rpm the record is dry and clean after a bit more than one revolution. Slower revolution will also decrease wear of the felt on the suction wand.

Oh, the vendor with the Garrard turntable said it is not for sale; he has records that need listening and will keep it.



I also decided to see what is needed for the Akai. It would be a good turntable for the motorhome. The ION with modifications will serve well as a platform for cleaning solution application.

John

John,

I love the Akai turntable.  I had an old Akai receiver that I had to put to rest, and it bothered me.  It was a great piece.  Also very cool you shaved down your record cleaning time.  When your doling a lot of records….it really adds up.  

I enjoyed camper life when I was out in Vegas years ago for the Nascar race.  It was a blast…so I’m glad that next year you’ll get a permanent spot.  

Keep us posted.

Dom

Dom,
The Akai has advantages over the JVC in that the controls are on the outside of the dust cover. The controls are very smooth in operation on the Akai and have a good feel. The JVC fails in this respect especially when wanting to cue certain tracks which usally causes skipping when raising the dust cover. However the JVC has a much better servo system that is rock solid. The Akai is not with a tiny bit of flutter noticeable in the strobe but not detectable in music so far. It probably needs capacitors replaced also.

Camping is a blast but can be hard on the body! I made a big mistake waiting to get blood work done after the trip for an upcoming semi-annual doctors checkup. He is not going to be happy with me! Metrics are way off from too much beer, steak, and seafood

Did not get much accomplished the last few days. I been too busy enjoying the spring air and getting ready for another road adventure.

The JVC QL-F4 did get a new set of electrolytic caps. The platter has more torque now as a result. The supplier of the recap kit sent a bipolar .47uf to replace an electrolytic that did not work on my table.  He thought is was odd and will send a replacement .47uf electrolytic. My platter just nudged as power was applied but would not run until the old cap was reinstalled.

The photos below show the before and after cap replacement. Looks like it was done just in time to. The large caps with the discoloration around on the board is adhesive used by the manufacturer to secure the caps. It started to leech. If left much longer it would have literally ate the components around the caps.

There is still a problem with the strobe circuit. The diodes were replaced without success. The light but do not pulse. Might be a shorted transistor or bad logic chip. Need to pinpoint it some other time. The turntable shows no sign of being off pitch.




John

The Akai was fairly easy fitting the ION's electronics. There was 2 choices of how to fit the circuit board. The original idea would have disconfigured the Akai case and created much work to accomplish. The result was to use three existing mounting bosses and drill one hole. The mounting boss was simply drilled to a bigger diameter providing the right size hole for a 6/32 tap thread. Risers are used to space the board and transformer in areas that would not conflict with the turntables mechanical functions. Four 3" screws cut to the right lenght, one washer, one nut, one lock washer, a four inch heavy wall plastic tube cut to three correct lenghts, five wire ties, and a little solder was used to complete the work. The only other alternation of the case was a cut in the area of where the USB cable would exit.

The first idea would have been very time consuming. Adding an IEC, RCAs out, and placing the board in symmetrical fashion cutting a hole for the USB socket would have been way too much work for the desired outcome. It will work just dandy as done.






John

John..great job!  I love the setup in the camper.  Your hard work has definitely paid off.  I think it’s time to treat yourself to some more vinyl….you’ve earned it.  

Dom

I splurged on a few new records in the past week. Big mixed bag of results...

Rodrigo y Gabriela - In Between Thoughts...  
Wow, very good sound and mix. I love their style and this likely to be my favorite album from them. It's "translucent bone" color which isn't bad, until you turn on the LED lamp and the light seems to amplify off the record into an instant eye aura headache.

The Record Company - Play Loud  
I opened this one and slid out the top record. Hmmm, side C and D. That's weird they stacked them in the jacket wrong, pull out the bottom record...DAMMIT...side C and D again. Bezos sent a new copy the next day and all is well. This isn't the first time I've had this happen. Horrible quality control.

The Record Company - All of This Life
Solid white and again blinding to look at under the light. Great recording. Record has a slight warp, but didn't affect playback.

Hermanos Gutiérrez - El Bueno Y El Malo
These guys are amazing. Latin/old timey Western cowboy style music and they're from Zurich, Switzerland. This one is black n brown marble. Looks like a diamondback rattlesnake. I didn't play side two. Side one is ATROCIOUS. Visually the record looks clean. I had to stop playing it as I thought I caught a fur ball on the stylus. Nope, no hair or dust the record just sucks. Sometime you get a noisy record where the music plays above the surface noise. Not this one, the static is horrible. It's getting an ultrasonic bath later today.

The Allman Brothers Band - Live at Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh 1971 RSD release
I've been a ABB fan as long as I can remember. I was born five days after Duane died. I told myself I was done buying ABB live shows on vinyl a few years back, but since this one was recorded in Pittsburgh at a venue I've been to so I had to bite. Haven't opened this one yet, it's steel gray...cause that's all we do in the Burgh is steel.

I will say if given the option I would choose BLACK vinyl all day.

I have an original RED J. Geils Band recording, titled  "Bloodshot"  and I thought at the time that we can now just have any color we want for LPs.

Pictures came a bit later, but not the quality of sound.

That RED J. Geils sounds fine, but that is not the reason to listen it. It was an early attempt (maybe his second, I'd have to look it up) and a very good one.
I include that one as a favorite of mine on vinyl.

One of the times I worked with Bon Jovi, Geils was the opening act. Kind of the best of worlds at the time. Short tour as they always were in those days.


All in all, I avoid colored vinyl these days, meaning anything but black.

You know, I'm going to go find "Bloodshot" now and play it again.

Nice score indeed!

I have just recently bought and engaged a Spin-Clean record washer into my use.

I took the plunge from reading a number of recommendations on this forum. Obviously, the only way I'll know for sure is to live with one.

Add me to the column of folks who would recommend it.

Going through my giant stack of stuff acquired just previous, not much to do for this thing, since all the LPs I have cleaned were very carefully archived before I got my hands on them. My late friend's sincere diligence at work.

BUT, I grabbed up a few Deutsche Grammophon classical items lately which have probably NEVER been cleaned except for maybe a perfunctory pre-needledrop attempt, and I am seeing the fluid dinge up some after just three or so LPs.
I take that as a sign that the Spin-Clean thing is doing its job.

I remember you have quite a cleaning system in place (unless I am confused).
So all this is probably superfluous to your needs.

I know it seems moronic for me to continue to buy albums when I have more "new to me" than I can get through in months, but I can not leave Deutsche Grammophon selections just sit while I walk away. I buy them when I find them in great shape.


You bought an alto sax? Are you a player?

... or more like me? I find something left behind and try to get it into hands that can appreciate it.

Agreed 100%.
That is kind of what I meant by dinging some, but I was not so descriptive in my process as to continue describing what to do next.

The fluid must be clean and only then can an LP come out clean.

However I do run several albums through, change, clean and restore the machine and run them again sometimes.
I mean the compound is the cheapest thing, compared to rare albums, so if the fluid becomes the least bit cloudy, I change it out.

That's how I have found to judge the cleaning in the early stages of my experiences with this new thing.

I am open to suggestion and if you have a preferred home spun solution, please share.

I read on the Factory supplied fluid that one bottle can clean up to fifty albums. Maybe, but I want mine cleaner than that might be.

 Well, you could try Windex. Man I can't say that without laughing. But see, there are plenty of people who would do such a thing. Like I mentioned before watching that lady scrubbing 45's with a dirty rag across the grooves was tough. No idea whatsoever!
As far as fluid goes, I have been Using 'Disc Doctor' record cleaner. Can't really say that is top of the heap. I will clean even a new album just to know that it is ready as can be. Going a step too far, I treat some records with 'Last' record treatment. Hell, after what I payed for some albums, it makes me feel better, and I don't really care what someone else might think about that.
 I had a very few albums that I was willing to try something out. VRF is a small company that will clean your most precious albums for a price. Yah, it costs money, but I wanted know what difference if any could be had. I only heard a difference on an old Fleetwood Mac album that had noise. It didn't eliminate it all, but there was a noticeable reduction that anyone could hear. I had cleaned it myself, but the noise was still there, so that was the experimental album to gauge things by. Sure as spit you don't have to go that far with vinyl, but I get that way sometimes and now have an opinion. Mostly, I just don't want to damage the stylus with grit.

The Hermanos, Rodrigo, ABB, and the Record Company LPs were brand new, sealed records. I spent 5x as much on the new albums than I did at Willy's and the records from Willy's were all 5x better quality soundwise. I think the newest of the Willy's bunch was released in 1980.

The Victrola made it to the final destination. Found a different stand for the table top model. The spring motor runs well. The sound reproducer also needs springs, gaskets, and mica. Ordered. Vinyl Man has 750,000 78s to search through. Looking for a violin to place below with the brass. Going to get interesting!


John

Very cool Don! Teddy Roosevelt did so much for this country. He loved its natural beauty. His national park namesake in North Dakota is a real gem. Beauty and wildlife abound there. It is on my top 5 list of favorites. A real pleasure to tour on bicycle taking it all in especially the north section.
John