Advice/feedback needed on Morch UP4 setup


I am trying to set up a new Morch UP4 arm on a new Amazon Model One table. I have no experience or exposure to this set up or any experience with setting up arms and carts since the early eighties. The question I have is concerning the lack of stability of the assembly at the pivot point. Should it be loose? I have put the weights on and installed the wand and it is still very unstable at the pivot point. I realize this assembly is riding on a bearing and that it is really the only point of contact but I can't beleive it is not supported laterally somehow. For instance, if I have the arm in it's base along with the prescribed weights on and the wand installed and I pick it up by the head shell with one finger it rotates, or spins, if you will. I hope this question makes sense, if anyone out there has set up a Morch UP4 hopefully you have seen the same. An advice/ experience/ feedback is greatly appreciated.
wdt
What you remark on is normal,when you lower the arm onto the record you will see that the arm is stable as it tracks the groove and that is what is important.
I too have a Morch UP-4 Arm,and have been out of Analog as u have.When I tried to initially install the arm I had great difficulty getting use to its movement as well.I must have fiddled with the counter weights for 1 hour plus after I balanced the arm.I used the middle weight and small weight on my cartridge with my red dot arm wand,plus used the smallest for the VTF.The smallest one I
rotated one full turn to estimate .5 gram tracking force.
I'm soon going to buy an inexpensive VTF Gauge,since the one on the Morch seems very awkward.But as you lower arm down you can tell if azmith is close by seeing how
it rides in the groove.It is a delicate balancing act,since the last arm I had was plug and play a Sumiko FT-3 Arm.
Thanks 76doublebass,
I got a lot done last night. Learned a lot. I can't imagine doing what I did without a vtf scale, I bought a good digital one in preparation for this and can't imagine last night without it. Every time I was making an azimuth adjustment( and still need to fiddle further) I would change the weighting on the cart unknowingly. It's a dog chasing it's tail story for sure with all this. I have a blue precision arm and used all three weights. The sound is proving to be well worth it though, music sounds real again!

thx again,wd
Thanks for your input as well.What digital scale did you buy?I was wondering about this subject myself.
I still periodically check my azmith and fiddle with the counterweights,and don't have a digital scale yet.
So with your scale you were able to determine that the
VTF would change alot? If so I'm curious .How much would it be off?
I also have extra info on the set up of this arm that an audiophile supplied to me.I can quote some of the info he gave me.
"Since it is a unipivot,I think it is important to make sure
the table is level before any arm adjustments.
Dealing with the weights will seem odd at first ,but once you get used to the design,it all makes simple sense.
Remember: Azmith is everything! If azmith is not right,the arm will not be properly balanced.It takes a while to get this right,but,take your time and observe the cartridge while on a record,and,also as the cuing lowers it to the record.Their is a sonic benefit to using as much weight as possible,and locating it as close as possible to the arm body.Weight your cartridge and use the chart to determine which weight to use.I got the best sound by not using the small counterweight at all because it enabled me to use the 2 heaviest weights closer to the pivot.This is tricky though because when you move the weights to adjust tracking force,they may have screwed up the azmith because of the eccentric holes.For your initial setup,you probably will prefer to use the small counterweight to adjust tracking force.It is much easier:Twist the eccentric holed weight to adjust azmith,then slide the small counterweight to adjust tracking force.Morch talks about figuring the tracking the tracking force by counting how many dots the weight has passed,but that is so confusing and imprecise that I can't imagine setting it up without a stylus force guage.Also they never say a word about the fragility of the arm,but I think it is a good idea to grip the body gently and lift up slightly to disengage the bearing point while moving the weights or removing the arm tube."
I hope this hepls for you and others who may have a Morch Arm for setting up.
I will be getting a new used cartridge after the 1st of July
the Grado Reference Cartridge,with my VPI MK3 so I will be
starting the whole process all over again.Take care and Happy Listening
Don