Turntable Tonearm Tracking Force Scale

thingiverse

Things have gotten old-timey during this lockdown. Sourdough, marbles, now records. I dug out the old records and turntable and realized that I don't (and never had) a way to measure the tonearm tracking force. I was just eyeballing (earballing?) it. Turns out I was tracking WAY to light, I always wondered why other people's records sounded so much better than mine and the stylus bounced every time someone sneezed. Enter this simple balance. This is not scientific, I'm not even sure how accurate it is really. I don't have a scale accurate enough to measure fractions of grams. If I did, I would use it to calibrate my turntable! The weights do balance each other though. Cura tells me that each 1.0g "weight" uses one gram of filament when printed at 30% infill with 2 perimeters all over. The <a href=https://rigid.ink/blogs/news/how-many-meters-of-filament-on-a-spool>calculation</a> here is that PLA is 1.24 grams/square cm. With a filament diameter of 1.75mm, that works out to be 0.34m of filament per weight. This also relies on the calibration of your printer. Adjust as necessary to suit your filament diameter and density. The complete file includes weights as follows: 1.00g x 2 0.50g x 1 0.25g x 1 (This weight is really somewhere between 0.2g and 0.3g. I'm rounding for convenience. That will get you in 0.25g increments from 0.25g to 2.75g. Print more, or fewer individual weights as you like. The infill and perimeters can be adjusted to suit your specialized weights. Remember, these weights are only as accurate as your printer. But I figured these will get pretty close. In the parlance of our times; good enough. The weights can be printed separately from the beam and fulcrum. I've printed the beam and fulcrum as low as 5% fill with no issues. Though rigidity and feel are better with more infill or perimeters. This scale and weights will at least get you in the right range, even if it's not 100% accurate. I'm using it on my own stereo equipment, but no warranties express or implied. Use at /with your own judgment, responsibility, and risk. I'm not liable for miscalibrated turntables, wrecked priceless records, busted styli, damage to your house, or destroying the Rolls Royce in your garage.