Magneticaly Levitated Turntable Platform.

Brett DiMichele · 04-05-2003, 06:17 AM

I was sitting here thinking (as always when I do this I get
myself into trouble but not before I smell smoke..)

I have a bunch of very strong magnets that are a hair under
1/2" Diameter I belive they are Alnico possibly Strontium.
Whatever they are they are super smooth and extremely strong.

As an example of how strong they are it takes everything I
have just to pull 2 of them apart and it feels like it takes
about 7 pounds worth of force to push them togeter.

So I was thinking why not install 8 of these into 2 simple
pieces of MDF and let magnetism float the upper platform.

Seems like a simple and dirt cheap way to suspend a turn
table or even a CD Player forget "absorbing" vibration if
it's floating in the air you don't have to deal with it at
all

Jeff Hoak · 04-05-2003, 06:41 AM

Great idea except for one little problem. At least in terms of turntables magnetic fields are a bad thing. You'd need to be able to shield or isolate the cartridge from any field generated by the magnets. I don't have any idea how easy (or difficult) that would be.

As for using under a CD or other equipment it'd probably be fine so long as the equipment being "floated" isn't effected by magnetic fields.

I actually played with the idea a couple of years ago. Getting the upper platform to float on the field was pretty easy. The hard part was alignment. In order to get the upper platform to be stable side to side and front to back I had to introduce mechanical connections that transmitted the very vibrations that I was trying to eliminate.

I did ultimately figure out a way to maintain lateral alignment but it have required a bunch more magnets and I didn't at the time have access to any more.

I was floating an 18" x 18" x 1" granite slab to use as a turntable base. I never did overcome the effects of the magnets on the phono cartridge. I considered a layer of some type of metal as shielding but abandoned the project before it got that far.

I think that somewhere here I have my original notes and drawings if you're interested.

Brett DiMichele · 04-05-2003, 07:03 AM

Jeff,

I appreciate your offer but it's just an idle experiment for
me. My turntable is hardly anything high end so this is just
an experiment with some scrap I have laying around the house.

I was thinking the same thing about lateral alignments but
there has to be a way to completely suspend it and align
it with the magnets that are suspending the platform. The
magnets have a natural set of poles and they always force'
away from eachother's opposite poles so if you strategicaly
apply the magnets they should essentialy try and force the
table in all 4 directions thus ballancing eachother out.

Wouldn't the opposing magnets cancel eachother out to where
the fields wouldn't affect the item being suspended?

I will give it a shot and see what happens.. Worst case
scenario it doesn't work, I laugh and go back to pondering
how to take over the world.. *noFf*

Rich Kraus · 04-05-2003, 11:58 AM

seems to me that if you mounted the magnet pairs in all four corners on an angle it would make it self centering.

bad keyboard art to explain:

\_________/

\_________/

magnets in pairs on the slashes.

did that make sence?

Brett DiMichele · 04-05-2003, 02:20 PM

Rich,

Makes perfect sense I will have to try that..

I cut two small pieces of MDF and drilled 1/2" holes in
each corner the magnets fit perfectly in the holes.

But alas I get the same problem Jeff experianced it wants
to push off to the side.. I will try your suggestion.

It seems pointless to me to make a levitation device and
then have to rely on pins to locate the thing and therfore
transfer the very vibrations you are trying to eliminate.

Magnetism bites.. Why can't they have 4 poles

Then Hoverboards could be a reality! (Woah BTTFII Flashback)

**HTF Ads**

ChristopherW · 04-05-2003, 02:23 PM

Hey guys,

This link my give you guys some ideas on your designs. I think this is similar to what you guys are trying to do. Let us know how it turns out!

http://gr-research.com/levitator.htm

Chris

John Wes · 04-05-2003, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Hey guys,

This link my give you guys some ideas on your designs. I think this is similar to what you guys are trying to do. Let us know how it turns out!

http://gr-research.com/levitator.htm

Chris

Wow...an idea I've never thought of. Thanks for the link..

Around 25 years ago, there was such a monster being built..(A suspended turntable) I do not remember the name of it but it used 3 magnets..the frame was Plexiglas and I believe you could mount up to 3 tonearms to it. The motor if I remember right, was also controlled by magnets...And the price then if I can rely on my overused brain cell, was around 3 grand...

Frank Carter · 04-05-2003, 03:01 PM

If you visit the psaudio.com, go to toolbox, then tips & tricks, someone described the process they went through to do the same thing.

Brett DiMichele · 04-06-2003, 05:17 AM

Chris,

Yes the Levitator is what I am trying to copy it seems a
tad pricey to me..

Frank,

Thanks for the linkage I am checking it out!

Danny Richie · 04-06-2003, 11:02 AM

For what it is worth.

The opposing magnets cancel one anothers fields.

You can set a Levitator right on top of a TV with no effect to the picture.

The guide pins used to keep it aligned are not solidly locking the two platforms together. It floats on those as well, and it transmits very little from the bottom to the top from that contact.

As for the price: The high powered Neo magnets are not cheap. The polished Acrylic top plate is not cheap either.

There is another company in Italy that makes one similar to the Levitator that is also available in the US but it is $150. more, and its aligning mechanism does solidly lock the top and bottom plates together (transmitting more resonances).

Compared to other mass loading systems the Levitator is cheap.

But hey, if you can DIY your own have at it, and have fun.