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Classic Thorens TD 135 mk i

Just found some rubberwood (Hevea) that I may use for the 4 walls of a standard Thorens plinth. It comes from a kitchen tabletop in our Aarhus inner city apartment from way back. It has been kept in dry storage since 2005, so about time that I use it.
 
Thanks again Craig. You are a marvel of information and knowledge!
I hadn't seen that thread which will be extremely useful when I start building my Plinth.
 
I know I said that the rubberwood had been kept in "dry" storage. Turns out it is not absolutely flat. I will se what I can do about that.
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Great to know. I will make sure to read that thread carefully!

I am home from my quick visit to Sheffield with a panzerholz top plate that Paul (@misterdog ) cut for me so it would fit in my suitcase. He also rounded off the corners and edges. I am really grateful to him for that. I expect the top plate to be sunk into a standard type Thorens plinth, one that I will make much sturdier than the original plinths. I will make room for a second tonearm to the left of the plinth in case I would like to try out my revised Poul ladegaard or a 12" unipivot tonearm.

I also brought home the Thorens 150 tonearm holder as well as a Shure M97xe (courtesy of @alcarmichael ) + Paradise MC and TRON Signature mm phono stages. Thanks a lot to Simon (@sq225917 ) who built and checked through my Paradise One box phono stage and acted as my post office agent in the UK!
 
Still at it with my room. I now have the main rig set up (playing a Kraftwerk live concert from 1979), the long work desk and my poetry notebooks and papers placed for easy access and inspiration. Next up is the second stereo rig, then the Thorens TD 135 and its plinth, my small handbook library and the diy tools and materials. The Sinclair Stereo 60 is placed on a shelf for easy access. It too will get a place on my "workbench" as will the Thorens TD 135 and 110/115. I may just test that the turntables will play 33 and 45 for now. Cleaning up is for later. I also have my FirstWatt F4 that needs TLC and more.
 
On another note, I managed to straighten out the Hevea wood pieces somewhat by applying weight from concrete bricks and a heavy vice for a month. I will see if this is enough for me to use them for the 4 walls of the plinth. I aim to fix them together with dovetails (wish me luck!).
 
On Thursday I will pick up an original Thorens 124 turntable die-cast chassis that needs some TLC. It will be put on my waiting list of things to renovate once I am done with redecorating my study and my semi-retirement comes through. The cast-iron will be cleaned down and re-painted. Then I may see if my 135 can be turned into a 124 when I finally have time to take the 135 apart for a good inspection and cleaning.
 
The linkages are a nightmare. When i got mine, half of them where stuck and needed solvent to get rid of the gunk.
Some of the automatic functions did not work, and i could not figure out the delicate adjustments needed. Fortunately a friendly person over on Lenco Heaven provided photos of a working unit and after a few more hours of fiddlung i did manage to have everything working.
It never found any use since i got a 124 a short time later , and it is now languishing on a shelf on the basement, waiting to be put up for sale.
 
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I will have to look up the word "linkage".
Here are photos of the Thorens 124 (mk i) chassis. Its condition is ok with just a few small paint bubbles and scuff marks on the top and a really nice-looking underside. The idea is to have it sand blated and repainted when I am ready to work my way through the TD 135.
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OK. I finally got round to looking at the Thorens TD 135 project. I have carefully assembled a paper template by printing out the four A4 sheets at 100.5% in order to get the scale correct. Then I have cut the 4 sheets of paper and carefully measured distances marked on the template in order to fit the 4 sheets together in one correct template.

I have then marked a thin board that will be cut tomorrow in order to test if it will fit. Later I will mark and attempt to cut the panzerholz. I will probably drill 25-30 holes along the drawn lines in the panzerholz, holes that will serve a my guide when I attempt to saw it. Here are a few photos of my project.

First the overall template that gives the size of the Thorens 135 chassis - here shown on the heavy 2.5 cm panzerholz board:
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Then the size of the cut-out - I've left flaps where the 4 chassis screws are placed:

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Then the first attempt at a guide marked out on thin board.

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A few photos of the Thorens 135. When it is finally in the plinth, I will fix the sagging tonearm counterweight prong + fit a new tonearm holder and set it up for a listen, but with with which cart?

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Good idea leaving the tabs/flaps where the chassis screws go, Peter.

According to the BTD-12S manual (and flyer below) the arm can balance cartridges weighing from 5 to 19g and apply tracking force as low as 1g via spring. The adjustable plate within the headshell allows for a half inch (12.7mm) range of adjustment with optimum stylus overhang being 11/16" (or 17.48mm past the centre of the record spindle).

Although one hears conflicting information as to what cartridge compliances are suitable for such vintage tonearms, Thorens themselves described this tonearm as being "designed for lowest possible inertia and friction, in both horizontal and vertical planes, the BTD-12S is ideal for pickup cartridges of the highest lateral and vertical compliance."

My only concern here would be stylus tip to cartridge mounting screw centre distance vs. cartridge body girth, i.e. not only how well a given model might fit within the box-section headshell, but also allow for sufficient overhang via the sliding mounting plate. Many cartridge makers used to go by 9.5mm as a standard but most just do their own thing (including Ortofon, although many of their models are 9.5mm tip to centre of mounting screws, including the OM, 2M, and 300/500 series).

The tonearm specific manual in Fr and Gr can be found here...


BTD12S.jpg
 
Thanks, Craig. I will have to see what fits. I could probably use a next generation Thorens headshell such as the one that came with the Thorens TP14 tonearm. As for which cart, I will just have to see. Perhaps the Shure M97xE that I still have here would work? I will have to study the specs sheet more closely. It should work in a light-weight tonearm.

EDIT:
  • Tone Arm Mount: 1/2" Standard mount
  • Cartridge Type: MM
  • Output Voltage: 4,0 mV
  • Recommended Load: 47 kΩ; 250 pf
  • Tracking Force Range: 0,75 - 1,50 g
  • Tracking Force Optimum: 1,25 g
  • Trackability: 1 kHz: 44 cm/s; 10 kHz: 31 cm/s
  • (Stylus) Cantilever:
    • Shure Type II - Very low mass
    • Heat-treated aluminum alloy / tubular
    • 1.0 mil wall thickness / 20 mil diameter
  • Diamond Stylus Tip:
    • Polished natural gemstone
    • Elliptical 0.2 x 0.7 mil
  • Compliance: 25 µm/mN
  • Frequency Response: 20 Hz - 22 kHz
  • Stereo Channel Balance: 2 dB
  • Channel Separation (at 1kHz): 25 dB
  • Net Weight: 6,6 g
  • Height: 16 mm
  • Replacement Needles:
    • N97xE
 
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Rosewind said:
I have then marked a thin board that will be cut tomorrow in order to test if it will fit. Later I will mark and attempt to cut the panzerholz. I will probably drill 25-30 holes along the drawn lines in the panzerholz, holes that will serve a my guide when I attempt to saw it. Here are a few photos of my project.
Click to expand...

This might help a little bit (quoting from my post in LencoHeaven)

... cutting Panzerholz with a jig saw is not necessarily easy. I tried 8 different saw blades before finally settling on the Bosch "Clean for Wood" T301CD. With them i could do about 25cm of cutting before i had to replace the blade. Slow setting on the speed control and little pressure, otherwise the blade will overheat in seconds. Cutting speed was about 2 seconds per mm, and a break was needed every few mm for cooling.
Drilling is much easier as long as you do not try drill bits for wood.

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Drill as many holes as close to the inside of the cut-out as you can (a drill press is more than helpful for that) using a 5 to 7mm drill. Cobalt or HSS drill bits for metal, NOT for wood, are highly recommended, because the tip gets very hot. Make sure to buy European made ones, if possible HSS-G (fully ground), not HSS-R (roll-forged) because quality and geometry are usually superior.

(In case you are interested - https://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=38633.msg471734#msg471734 )
 
Thanks for that! Much appreciated! I will make sure to read through that thread in Lenco heaven.
I will see which kind of jigsaw blades I have in the house and use cobalt or HSS drill bits for metal when I drill.
 
I won't drill the 4 holes for the chassis screws until after I have drilled the template. I need to make sure that they are perfectly aligned. Another thing, to me the holes look a bit big with a diameter of a little more than 15mm?
 
Rosewind said:
I won't drill the 4 holes for the chassis screws until after I have drilled the template. I need to make sure that they are perfectly aligned. Another thing, to me the holes look a bit big with a diameter of a little more than 15mm?
Click to expand...
The screw hole size is such so as to accommodate the optional chassis decoupling rubber dampers. Thorens specified 16mmØ.

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You can just make out the rubber dampers fitted to this Schopper restoration...

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Thank you again, Craig! That's the exact piece of Information I was after. My Thorens 135 has rubber dampers fitted.
 
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