WITH ENCOUNTER TONE ARM
Origin Live Aurora Gold Turn Table with
Encounter Tone Arm, fitted with the VTAF.
This is where we want to finally arrive with the VTAF
installation on an Origin Live Aurora Gold Turn Table equipped with the
Origin Live Encounter Tone Arm. I have made this web page to allow
those of you who wish to accomplish the same task to follow my procedure and
avoid any potential pitfalls. It is a simple installation, but the
Aurora Gold presents one or two minor challenges that are unique, due to its
structural design. The general instructions provided by Pete Riggle, as well
as his detail sheet for the Aurora Gold with Encounter Arm are very well
done and nicely detailed. Therefore, always have his
instructions handy and refer to them for your complete understanding
of the VTAF installation. Refer to this website and read
through it AFTER you have completely read the
instruction sheets provided by Pete with your VTAF.
That being said, LET'S GET STARTED!
Bottom of the arm board, left, top view,
above.
First, before removing it from the sub-chassis, I scribed the outline of the
sub-chassis into the bottom of the arm board (left). Because of
the odd shapes of the turn table parts involved, I also scribed an arrow to
indicate the direction that is directly toward the back of the turn table,
in order to maintain orientation throughout the process of fitting the VTAF
as well as for re-assembly. Now, using the appropriate sized
Allen Wrench that came with the turn table, remove the arm board by
unscrewing the two screws that hold the arm board to the sub-chassis
along with the three washers that separate the two parts. Scribe the
1.25" circle as described in the VTAF instructions on the top and bottom of
the arm board.
Showing the "double sided approach to
cutting the arm board.
Once I started enlarging the hole in the arm board with a coarse sanding
drum on my Dremel, I realized that if I wanted this project done this year,
I needed to get a more aggressive cutting instrument. This metal is
REALLY HARD!!! I used a Dremel #115 High Speed
Cutter. Now the work went much quicker and easier.
Cutting was fast but very well controlled. The cutter is not long
enough to cut the entire thickness of the arm board. Begin by
holding the arm board right-side-up, and come up through the bottom of the
existing hole with the cutter. Cut the top 1/3 of the hole
enlargement, then, holding the arm board upside-down, in the same way, cut
the bottom 1/3 of the hole to the scribed line. Note, that when
you approach the cutting in this way you can always see the scribed line on
both the top and bottom, so you can easily see your approach to the lines.
The picture above shows the top and bottom "rings" cut out (roughly) from
the original hole. You now have the roughed out
hole on both sides of the board with a "doughnut" left in the middle.
Finally, cut the middle portion out from the hole and smooth and finish the
hole with the sanding drums.
YOU MUST, MUST, MUST WEAR PROTECTIVE EYE COVERING WHILE PERFORMING THIS PROCEDURE!!!
Above: The metal that the arm board is made of is very tough, and it pretty much destroyed the cutting tool by the time I was finished.
Finished arm board, Extension Plate holes
not yet drilled.
Next, drill the holes for the VTAF Extension Plate according to the
VTAF instructions and mount it to the arm board.
At this point, trim and finish the hole in the arm board according to the VTAF instructions so that the bushing slips in and sits flat on its flange.
To the left, we see a problem with re-assembly of the arm board to the sub-chassis. One of the Extension Plate nuts interferes with the sub-chassis. Remember, there are three washers between the sub-chassis and arm board, so if you want to, you can just file or grind down the nut and screw. I chose to modify the sub-chassis to accommodate the nut and screw and leave a better arrangement for access to the nut, if it needs to be removed or tightened. It also leaves no doubt about the integrity of the alignment between the sub-chassis and the arm board, because if the nut and screw touch the sub-chassis even slightly, the arm-board WILL NOT BE IN PROPER ALIGNMENT WITH THE ENTIRE CHASSIS/SUB-CHASSIS AND PLINTH ASSEMBLIES, AND THE ARM BOARD WILL NOT BE LEVEL AND IN A PARALLEL PLANE WITH THE PLATTER AND SUB-PLATTER.