Analogue Gramophone for Teaching

Hello!

You are going to make your own gramophone with this Instructable! There are a few things you need to know before you start.

1. You control the gramophone. It doesn't work by pressing a button or something like that. You turn the record with one hand and you hold the horn with the other.

2. The analogue gramophone is made of very cheap material. This means the needle attached to the horn is a stitching needle. And you will eventually destroy the record because you are holding the horn with your hand. Your hand isn't very accurate if you compare it to the tone arm. Because of this, you will make scratches on the record. That's why I would highly recommend you to use records of very very very poor condition.

3. This gramophone is made to explain noise/music/vibrations to other people. If you want to build this to enjoy music, this isn't the gramophone you're looking for.

4. I used a lasercutter to cut out the parts for the gramophone. You can do it without a lasercutter but this will be very hard to do and it wil take very long.

5. This is an assignment I've made for school.

Let's get started!

Step 1: Shopping List

I've made a shopping list for you. You'll need:

- 3x pieces of plywood (80 centimeters x 45 centimeters). It needs to be 0,6 centimeters thick

- Cilinder shaped wood of 15 centimeters

- 1x bolt, 2x nuts and 4x washers. 5 centimeters long, M8

- 1x bolt and 3x nuts. 4 centimeters long, M3

- 2x a4 120 gram paper

- Fidget Spinner

- Tape

- Knife

- Stitching needle

- Rubber

- Glue for wood

Step 2: Set Up for the Lasercutter

I've added two .ai (Adobe Illustrator) files for this step. You need these for the lasercutter.

You are going to use two of the three pieces of plywood. You're going to use one for the gears and the other for smaller parts for your gramophone. There are some screenshots which will help you get the right settings for the lasercutter. First you go to settings and select your material (in this case it's Multiplex 6mm). Then you go to manual control, select "red" and lower the speed with 0,5%. Otherwise the speed of the lasercutter might be to high. It might be possible that the laser doesn't go through the wood because it's to thick.

If you've never used a lasercutter before, I would ask for help. There is a possibility that this screen with settings isn't the same as yours.

Step 3: Glue Your Gears

Get your gears and the cirkels. You should have the following: 1 big gear, 1 smaller gear, 2 big cirkels and 2 smaller cirkels. Take your big gear and your big cirkels and glue these together.

Next, take your smaller gear and drill a little hole for the handle. Use the M3 bolt and nuts and a small part of your wooden cilinder to make a handle. When your done, get the smaller cirkels and glue these to the smaller gear.

Let the glue dry while you work on step 4.

Step 4: Center Spindle

Now that you have your parts, let's continue to the center spindle. This might be the hardest part of this Instructable. The center spindle makes sure your record lays still.

I've used a lathe to create the center spindle. Get your cilinder shaped piece of wood and place it in the lathe. Turn the lathe on and carve piece by piece of it. Take your time during this part. The diameter of the spindle has to be 0,7 centimeters to fit in the hole of the gear and to fit in the holes of a record. When you're done, use the machine again but this time with sandpaper. Get the rough parts and splinters out of the way.

Step 5: Place and Drill Your Gears

Grab your third piece of plywood and your gears. Place the gears on the piece of plywood and try to rotate the gears. If you're satisfied with the position of the gears, get a pencil and mark two drill points. Grab a drill and drill the two holes. These holes need to have a diameter of 0,7 centimeters. When your done put the spindle below through the hole.

Now you need to make four legs for your third piece of plywood, otherwise your M8 bolt and your spindle will carry the weight. It's up to you how you want to make these legs.

Step 6: The Fidget Spinner

You might be wondering why do I need a fidget spinner for this? Well you need two weights from it to make your gears avoid contact with the other piece of wood. This will cause friction and the gears won't rotate very smooth.

*Get your gears and your bolts. Put it through the other hole like on the picture*.

Get your nuts and washers to tighten the bolt on the smaller gear. This will stop your gear from wobbling too much when you are turning it.

Step 7: Horn

Now we've arrived at the last part of this tutorial. The Horn.

And to be honest, it's all up to you how to want to make this. You can use cardboard like in the pictures. Make a cone out of it and pierce the needle through it. However I've used two a4 120gram papers to make a cone because the sound coming out of the cone will be very loud.

Optional: I've used some rubber to make sure the record lays still when I rotate it. Otherwise it might stop turning when the needle makes contact with the record.

Step 8: Play!

You're done!

You're now ready to play records by hand. You can always continue with this project by trying out different kind of needles and horns. Maybe you want to paint it or make it from different materials. Have fun!