Headshell Storage Box.

[InSides]

I seem to remember there used to be thread to discuss headshell storage, but save for a few vague messages, I could not find it.

This would have been more appropriate there since I feel a little bit self conscious about opening up a thread just for this, but bits may help someone else so here goes.

I've been looking for ways to safely store my growing cartridge/headshell collection, now that all of my tonearms have SME/JIS headshell mounts. I had a few of the excellent Nagaoka cartridge display cases, but they are no longer sold sans cartridge, and the lids were not accomodating to the EMT cartridges, so it was not a permanent solution. I also looked into the Audio Technica AT6003R, but it suffered from the same issues as the Nagaoka ones - which makes sense, I am sure factory specific storage boxes are great for the products from that same factory, but not really taking into account anything else.

There are of course, the acrylic ones on eBay, but they felt generic and was worried they would not work with some of the larger cartridges (think EMT again!).

I turned to the NOS options, such as the Fidelity Research Cartridge Keeper (discounted since some cartridges I have do not have safety guards), and the Denon AS-3. Now, that would have been perfect, apart from the fact that it only counts for 3 headshells, and the prices are through the roof for clean examples ($200+ including shipping).

So I did what I though sensible and built a couple, with the following specifications:

1. Each box houses up to 6 headshells/cartridges;
2. The headshell fittings clamp the headshells with sufficient force for safekeeping, but are gentle enough not to damage them;
3. The box that makes up the "lid" is made of actual glass which is both tempered and tinted;
4. The base is made of CNC'd and painted MDF, with a layer of 5mm dense cork.

And it looks like this:

I should have probably dusted and wiped the lot prior to making photos, but it is what it is.

Note the biggest issue funnily were the headshell couplers. They are 3D printed - but for such a small part it sure needed a lot of trial and error. I can provide the model and printer settings should anyone be interested to take on a similar project. This also goes for the drawings of the base, and the dimensions of the lid, of course.

The glass lid is somewhat on the heavier side, but it was the nicer of the options (the other one being acryllic) apart from actually making a mold and die casting custom covers. That said, this one has the added bonus of UV protection.

 

[Tony L]

That looks really cool, very nicely done.

I bought one of these Audio Technica 3x headshell boxes a couple of weeks ago. It is great for the price, but irritating in that the plastic bubble covers are just a very loose gravity fit, they just rest on rather than clipping in place. My hope was to be able to use it without stylus guards, but it is just too much of a risk. That aside I really can’t complain at the price, it looks cool, keeps the dust off and I assume protects from UV being quite dark in tint. I just really hoped it was solid enough you could knock or drop it with little risk to the carts. Definitely only shelf storage, no way could you ship carts in this.

 

[InSides]

The Nagaoka ones clip into place, unless the headshell is longer and thus prevents this. I had really hoped to find a suitable commercial solution prior to doing this actually.