Garrard 301/401 Motor Bearings

301, 401, plinths and assorted idler stuff
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Richard Higgins
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Location: Oxford

#1 Garrard 301/401 Motor Bearings

Post by Richard Higgins »

Some thoughts on Garrard Motor Bearings.
There are some extreme examples of taking the motor back to its component parts, including drilling out rivets, on the net.

Unless the motor has been submerged in water, or is filthy, or the bearings rattle, all that’s required is to follow the Garrard instructions.

Sintered Bronze is usually 20% porous, so it absorbs oil. Thus the top bearing is oiled by filling the gallery round the bearing, through the holes in the rotor. The oil is they “wicked” through the bearing.

About 1970 I went on an apprentice visit to Garrard, and saw them making bearings.
The bronze powder was first pressed into shape, and then baked in ovens, before the bearing surface was machined. They were proud of their automated OBI presses, but they looked like toys compared with the presses we used in the car industry.

At the time I had no interest in Hifi, a dismantled Feranti valve radiogram with a new Garrard auto changer made all the noise I required.
The radiogram originally had a 1950s Garrard laboratory autochanger, a bit like a 201 but auto, with plug in cartridges for 78 and 33. The needles were bits of stainless steel about 10mm long with a diamond mounted in the end. This then went vertically into the cartridge and was held in place by magnetism. They must have been rare, I’ve not seen a picture of one on the net.

Regards Richard H
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Paul Barker
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#2

Post by Paul Barker »

Great to hear anecdotes.

A friend of mine's Dad was close with some people at Castle speakers he used to take them their old drive units which hed picked up at car boot sales etc and they reconed them, and gave him 1 for every 3 he brought in. They worked from an old mill, the old machinery just pushed asside and they made speakers in the middle.

Now he says they just assemble boxes for other people.

My very old engineer uncle was shown round a Mullard factory just after the war where he saw rows of girls stamping the Mullard shield on ex military valves.
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Nick
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#3

Post by Nick »

My very old engineer uncle was shown round a Mullard factory just after the war where he saw rows of girls stamping the Mullard shield on ex military valves.
Well, I guess if they had been made by Mullard as CV types, there was no reason why not.

One of my first summer jobs was working at a motor pars wholesaler taking tins of brake fluid out of boxes marked "not for sale outside the UK", putting them into different boxes, then loading them into trucks to take them to the middle east.
Whenever an honest man discovers that he's mistaken, he will either cease to be mistaken or he will cease to be honest.
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