Tool for measuring pivot to spindle distance?

Sorry, Mofi and Lewm - for some reason didn't see your posts when I wrote my last one. Mofi has the situation correctly described, and, no, I can't blame him for the unsecured state of the armboard. :-D

Mofimadness has a Dennesen protractor/Soundtraktor, too, Lewm, and I would love to have one, but, they don't seem to come up for sale/auction very often anymore, and the Nerve Audio protractors, which appear to be a copy of the Dennesen Soundtracktor, is almost $200, so out of my reach.

So, I need to get a good metric ruler or an acceptable pair of digital calipers; I may go the Harbor Freight route; their Pittsburgh calipers get decent reviews.

Holly

Dear Oakris, You wrote, "I think I am confusing folks, or I am confused myself, lol, I know what the spindle to pivot distance is supposed to be, just looking for a tool that will give me a reasonably accurate measurement."

I realized that not everyone was responding to your actual question, and I understand the problem. Which is why I posted about how I use the Dennesen protractor to set P2S (that's the standard abbreviation in these parts for "pivot to spindle"). It works. What I then pointed out is that the Dennesen is really a protractor for aligning a cartridge. So after you've mounted your tonearm at the exact correct P2S distance, then you can use it again, as Mr Dennesen intended.

My last post was written before your last post got posted.
Scour the for sale sections of this and other audio websites and even eBay, and I think you should be able to find a Dennesen or a Dennesen copy for under $100, with some patience.

Truthfully, if we accept on faith that the P2S should be within +/-1mm of exactly correct (even better than that, according to some), I don't know how you will achieve the goal with calipers. If no Dennesen, you might consider taking a stiff sheet of paper or a very thin sheet of plastic. Then take a very accurate metric ruler and measure out the desired P2S. Then carefully punch a hole the size of your spindle, centered on one of the end marks. Then punch a much smaller hole centered on the other mark. You should do fine with that. No calipers needed, only a good metric ruler.

Holly, you could buy one of these dividers...

Malco spring divider

Otherwise, do a search for "measuring pivot to spindle distance" at VinylEngine or VinylAsylum and you'll find some clever solutions (and an interesting discussion of the need for accuracy and precision in that measurement). :-)

Regards,
Tom

You already have everything you need to set the Pivot-to-Spindle *and* align your cartridge.

1. Use your ruler to set the Pivot-to-Spindle. Take your time. Tighten the articulated armboard (tight, but not too tight).

But what if it isn't perfect? Don't worry, and proceed to Step #2.

2. Go the Conrad Hoffman website http://conradhoffman.com/chsw.htm and download his free cartridge setup protractor. Enter your arm’s spindle to pivot distance and print out a customer arc protractor template. Pull out that ruler and double check what you print out to make sure your scale is correct.

3. Carefully cut out the hole for the spindle, and begin to align the cartridge per the instructions that come along with Conrad's tool.

4. If your cartridge won't align perfectly at both points on the arc...guess what? Your Pivot-to-Spindle is beyond the acceptable margin of error, and you go back to Step 1.

There is only one Pivot-to-Spindle and one Effective Length that will allow the stylus to perfectly touch both points on the arc. If all align, you *know* it's set up correctly.

Read the README.TXT that comes along with Conrad's tool. It explains the process far better than I just did (and I tested and gave feedback on many of the early versions of this tool).