Paper Record Player Development
#BehindTheScenes
I’m in the final stages of designing a hand cranked paper record player that plays 7” singles. The project is built entirely from paper apart from the needle which is an ordinary sewing needle. So far I’m delighted with how the project is going, the record player really works though I’m not sure how kind it is to your precious record collection. I’ve been using singles I’ve bought for next to nothing from the local charity shop. I’m expecting the finished project to be available as a downloadable pdf in the next week or so. Meanwhile, I thought you might be interested to hear about how it is progressing.
The project consists of two main parts:
The base, containing the crank handle and gears that drive the platter around and the tone arm, complete with needle to read the sound from the record disk and the horn to amplify the sound.
The base is a modified version of the 9:24 mesh gear seen in the previous newsletter. The mesh gear was actually designed with this record player project in mind. The vertical shaft is 6.5mm in diameter, an easy fit in the standard hole in a single at around ¼”
The gear ratio is designed so that turning the handle twice a second or 120rpm produces an output speed of 45rpm, the perfect speed for playing a single. To convert the base I’ve added an arm with a pillar ready to support the tone arm
I spent a restless night mulling over all sorts of complicated and ingenious ways to mount the tone arm so that it could move both side to side as the needle followed the spiral and lift up and down for easy placement of the needle on the record. In the end the solution I came up with is super simple,
A circular hole in the lower part of the tone arm allows the arm to swing side to side while a slot in the top of the arm stops the arm twisting over but lets it be lifted up and down. Simple but effective.
At the other end of the tone arm is the needle. I’ve used half a sewing needle sandwiched between two bits of paper and mounted into a pyramid shaped part. The pyramid is then glued into a matching hole in the head. This assembly is then glued to the end of the tone arm. As the record is played the needle vibrates which in turn vibrates the paper sandwich and then the air in the head. The vibrations travel down the tone arm then up and out through the horn filling the air with wonderful music!
I’m currently doing some final experimentation to find out what works best with different parts layouts. I’d had an issue with the four-armed spider that the record sits on where only three of the arms would be touching the record at a time. As an experiment I changed the design for a three armed spider, the record sat neatly in place but there was an unexpected and as yet unexplained drop in the volume from the record player.
I’m thinking I will go back to a four armed platter and change the construction method to make sure the parts are completely flat. Perhaps by assembling the spider upside down on a flat surface.
The record player project is very nearly done and I’m hoping to have it as a free download for paid subscribers on the end of the next newsletter. I’m very excited about this project, I think you are going to love it!
Bluesky - I’m in the process of moving across from twitter onto Bluesky and loving how it is going. The atmosphere is kinder and more supportive and there are loads of interesting people there! If you were following me on twitter please do follow me across! I can be found @robives.bsky.social
Instagram - I post regularly to Instagram @robivescom usually with video clips of new projects or reminders of models from my quite extensive archives.
Threads - I’ll be cross-posting from bluesky onto threads for the foreseeable @robivescom
YouTube - My channel is here, come by and say hi!
Pinterest - I have a few Pinterest boards where I save interesting images
Membership of www.robives.com
It’s been around ten years since I changed the price of membership of my main website, www.robives.com In that time I’ve added well over 250 new projects bringing the total to over 500 projects that are available for paid members to download for free.
In the New Year I’ll be putting up the price so that it matches the price of subscription to this newsletter. The very first thing to say, and to make absolutely clear, is that if you already have a recurring membership your price will never change. You can sign up now and lock in your membership price forever. From January memberships will be at the new price. Sign up with a recurring now to save!
Thank you to all the lovely people who continue to be members of www.robives.com some of you who have been with me for many years! I really do appreciate your support. Without you the site and this newsletter would not be possible.