Toying with the idea of a new top plate for a L75

[atharva]

Hello

To mount an external arm on a L75 it is usually rotated by 90 degrees and the arm mounted to the right. But then you are left with unused arm hole, arm rest etc. You may still have dents/scratches and the Lenco logo plate will also rotate and not look nice aesthetically.

The other option is to cut off the top around the circular well while retaining the speed control and on-off switch or move to PTP assembly like ...

lenco_test.jpg Photo by scompracer | Photobucket

AndrewL-01.jpg Photo by LencoHeaven | Photobucket (Wonder how the On-Off assembly fit below)

A trimmed top plate addresses the two issues and aesthetically looks better as you cover more area with the plinth. But it is not a trivial job. If you or the "professional" mess up you've lost your chassis. Instead, could we can get a CAD drawing of the top plate (or prepare one from something like this http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=21109.0) and make a new top plate matching the trimmed shape at a reasonable cost? We avoid the risk of cutting and could do a GB based on interest.

Possible? May be our CNC access friends can help?

 

[Beginner_N]

Hello

To mount an external arm on a L75 it is usually rotated by 90 degrees and the arm mounted to the right. But then you are left with unused arm hole, arm rest etc. You may still have dents/scratches and the Lenco logo plate will also rotate and not look nice aesthetically.

The other option is to cut off the top around the circular well while retaining the speed control and on-off switch or move to PTP assembly like ...

lenco_test.jpg Photo by scompracer | Photobucket

AndrewL-01.jpg Photo by LencoHeaven | Photobucket (Wonder how the On-Off assembly fit below)

A trimmed top plate addresses the two issues and aesthetically looks better as you cover more area with the plinth. But it is not a trivial job. If you or the "professional" mess up you've lost your chassis. Instead, could we can get a CAD drawing of the top plate (or prepare one from something like this http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=21109.0) and make a new top plate matching the trimmed shape at a reasonable cost? We avoid the risk of cutting and could do a GB based on interest.

Possible? May be our CNC access friends can help?

This is quite possible but, involves too much of work. You will have to rework existing top plate, for that need to dissemble complete L75. If you think you can manage complete dissembling and assembly back to normal, then you can think of this route.

Top plate can be laser cut.

There is considerable cost and effort involved.

Regards,
Nishant

 

[atharva]

Another cool idea is to 3D print this with carbon fibre or other material.

 

[atharva]

Yes! Finally made good progress on this. This took long as I could only do this in my spare time and this was my first "mechanical" DIY. The journey of drawing, machining, cutting etc. has been lot of fun, at times frustrating but extremely educational. Wasn't sure about doing this at first but am glad I did. The top plate is laser cut and the plinth layers were cut on a CNC router.

As I had mentioned before I wanted to
- Retain the original Lenco brake and speed selector functions. While many others have removed these, I find it very useful to have the on-off lever engage the brake pad (stops the platter) and disengage the idler when turned off. One can always remove these if required.
- Get rid of the unnecessary top plate area - less metal the better
- Improve on the looks

This is still WIP. The plate will be SS and the MDF replaced with birch ply. A few small tweaks are needed. The rest of the standard plinth layers also need some adjustments.

I also have some ideas on isolating the motor from the top plate. Will be experimenting on that as well.

Sharing some pics..

I am also attempting a single level plate i.e speed selector and the top plate at the same level but it needs a bit more work.

 

[jls001]

Do you plan on covering up the hole on top of the on/off linkages?

And did you figure out the cutout for plinth layer below the topmost so that the movement of the on/off levers is not hindered? This is the part I haven't figured out yet mainly because I haven't tried it yet.

Also, don't you feel the arm hole is way too big? It can be made smaller by having an elongated oval cutout aligned diagonally to accommodate any arm from 9 to 12 inches.

 

[atharva]

Joshua, the top layer will cover the on-off lever and the layer below will allow free movement of it. That is why I have cut it as seen so I can make the adjustment before the final cut.

The arm hole is very big, yes This being my first time I wanted to cut it to see how big it looks. Was finding it hard to visualise. There are different strategies including the oval cutout, the oval swivel cut out (I believe you did this for your 401?). Haven't finalised one yet. Right now just fine tuning the other fittings.

 

[atharva]

Finally there. Worked out the final position of the on-off and the cutouts in the plinth to accommodate it. Also decided on the 12 inch arm to the right and 9 inch arm at the back. Here you can see it with the SME 3012. Gave it a spin for a few hours and all is well.

Next step is to make adjustments to the remaining layers for the two arms and on-off assembly. Also need to make provision for IEC connector, RCA sockets, and ground terminal in the layers.

 

[Hiten]

Looking good. Excellent Finish.
Regards.

 

[atharva]

Thanks Hiten!