Equipment isolation and vibration damping.

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I have only read seven pages; so if some of my questions have been answered, please pardon me. I intend to read them all, I would like to try Barry's design and following are my questions:

 

 

1. As I understand, we need a piece of plywood, say 16”x16”- ¾” birch is a good start, a Bicycle Tube, say 18”, plywood goes on slightly inflated tube, then we need to place what I would call a steel puck (because it looks like that) with a dimple on one of the flat surface of the puck, then a steel ball on the dimple, and then we place our component on these three puck/steel balls in an equilateral triangle arrangement. I think all other things are simple to acquire; except the steel puck, so the questions:

2. Where to find the steel pucks. If we need to get them made, then what is the depth of the dimple, and what should be the radius of the curvature (that will give the diameter of the circle on the puck) of the dimple. Alternatively, I think a flat indentation will provide least contact area between the ball and the puck and would be lot easier to fabricate, unless there is another reason. I know equipment will sort of float in flat surface, but I think cables will provide restraint (that is another question if cables are connected then how we say it is isolated, but if works, that is good for now). Anyone found a steel cup with flat recess? I found this whiskey pucks Houdini Deluxe Stainless Steel Freezable Whiskey... : Target

If I can get a recess made on one side and polish it, I think it should work, it is 2” diameter and 1” high.

3. I have found tungsten carbide balls on Amazon; http://www.amazon.com/Tungsten-Precision-Tolerance-Diameter-Sphericity/dp/B00CNM7EL6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1436619788&sr=8-2&keywords=tungsten+carbide+balls

4. 3/8” are the largest on this site for about $6.42 each; are they big/small enough.

5. In my HQ Player setup I have an HQ Player PC, another NAA PC, DAC, pre-amp, and amp. I cannot float the speakers, too dangerous. Which is a good place to start, DAC or NAA pc?

 

Thanks.

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I've been emailing Mike at Ingress Engineered Products and discussed modifying his current design to have a 1" wide, shallow bowl. Assuming we can get enough people together for a group buy, he could do either $75 for a set of 6 in 6061 or $150 for a set of 6 in 7075 at 10 sets or $130/set at 20 sets. Interest? I'm interested in the 7075 and would go for 6 sets, I have a friend that would go for a bunch also.

 

Barry, if you have something better, let us know now!

AnotherSpin?

jabbr: I am still reading through the pages, is this group buy happening/happened? I will be interested in a few sets, let me know please. Thank you

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jabbr: I am still reading through the pages, is this group buy happening/happened? I will be interested in a few sets, let me know please. Thank you

jabbr: You can ignore this post. I have found the other thread, would be ordering some. Thanks.

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Thank you all for responding to my questions. I have read the whole thread now, and think I will be joining the group buy jabbr has started.

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Well done.

 

Don't forget the papers!

 

Are you awarding a Ph.D. to me if I do that

 

Not yet, but I will get to those. Thanks.

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I know Barry has ssuccessfully implemented marble tile under equipment, and in my case almost everything is going to need something like a marble tile, and non- ringing marble tiles are hard to find honestly, so I was thinking alternatives.

 

I was thinking to use plywood instead of marble tile and put something hard between plywood and ball. I came across these Quartz discs. I think Quartz is very hard and flat. See specs at the bottom of page.

 

Technical Glass Products: Plates and Discs

 

Thoughts please. Thanks.

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Give bamboo a try as well if you can.

I meant to ask, where you find bamboo boards.

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Is it advisable to use a smaller tube, say 12" or 16" for smaller and lighter equipment? I am asking because of space constraints for few things.

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Thanks Barry. Forgot to ask one more thing;

 

Is it advisable to put more than one component on one 18" tube and 20x20 ply arrangement; say a small computer (9x9) and a liner power supply of similar size.

 

Thanks.

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I made sure to buy the tire tool and tighten the little valves in the valve stems before adjusting the inflation level and putting them in use.

 

 

What is that tire tool you are referring to? Could you provide a picture or link please. Thanks.

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I have read the whole thread, and lot of people have given lot of very important feedback, thank you all for that.

 

I have a question before I implement this to my system. I know it is very cost effective arrangement, but is it better in performance compared to few other systems like Stillpoints; which I don't understand how it works, but that is what they claim. Why I am asking is also because I am little afraid that things might tend to slide off or not really be stable (I have lot of money invested in the gear). So question really is; how is the experience with stability (say a heavy amp), and how this arrangement compares to other commercial offerings.

 

Do things tend to slide off, say due to change in air pressure in the tube because a valve leaked or something.

 

Thanks again.

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I have read that marble tiles to go under the equipment (above the roller balls) should be 1/2" thick. I am having no luck finding them; all I find is 18"x18", 3/8" thick tiles. How critical is this?

 

Also on the same lines; 3/4" birch plywood is common, 1" is special order; again is it critical or not a deal breaker.

 

Thanks.

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Thank you, I read that article before I started my bamboo experiments. I tried various bamboo boards, of different design. Never tried Ikea, it has measurements which doesn't fit into my existing DIY support system. But, I tried more expensive square shaped thick bamboo boards of layers construction, both horizontal and vertical. Such as:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]19770[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]19771[/ATTACH]

 

Where you find these, and you are placing them I guess under the component above the marble tile I guess, is that correct? Thanks.

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An 18" tube blows to a 23" ring, I just pumped air in one, is that the idea? It is too big for a 22"x22" plywood. I don't think we intend to have plywood smaller than the tube.

 

May be I should use 16" tube, which might blow to 21", and then 22"x22" ply might be ok.

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If the inner tube pokes out a little under the sides of your plywood plate, I wouldn't be too worried about it. I have one that buldges out a little under a BDR Shelf. As long as the top, load bearing, portion of the tube is in contact with the plate, I'd be happy.

 

Did you fully inflate your 18" tube to see those dimensions ? Remember it should only be partially inflated. Just enough to lift the load above the level of the tubes's stem. Maybe that will bring the diameter down some ?

 

I have blown it without load right now, so when it loads it will go down, but I do not think dia will reduce much.

 

16" will be better I think. Anything wrong with that?

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Those of you who have tried bicycle tube method, including Barry, I have a question:

 

I think the idea is to keep the tube valve stem towards the outside for access. As we all know it is designed to be towards the inside of the ring, but I think once we force it and put some load on it, it will probably stay outside for access.

 

Is that how it is or am I missing something and we would need flexible valve extension, etc. for sure.

 

Please let me know. Thanks.

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Well, if you can turn an inner tube inside out, my hat's off to you

 

But there is the little matter that the inside diameter of the torus is considerably smaller then the outside diameter. So there is less rubber skin on the inside, and more on the outside. The structure will mightly resist efforts to deform it, probably only resulting in damage. But please try it if you think you can. They are certainly cheap enough to experiment with !

 

Ok, bad idea, wouldn't work. As you know I am trying to gather whatever I need for a weekend trial, that is why the questions, and I do not have everything to try yet. Thanks for your help, but still questions;

 

I physically tried to turn the tube, but as you said stem tries to go back inside, but I thought it might stay there with load. So the question then is how do you adjust the inflation.

 

I do not want to pick my 75 lbs amp six times to adjust the pressure, and I really wouldn't know how much pressure to put without trying, so what is the answer?

 

Would flexible valve stems work, but would have to pass under the tube like the straw, or we may not need the straw, because flexible hose will create some gap.

 

Also there was a talk about valve extensions, etc. how they apply then?

 

Let me know please. Thank you for your help.

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I just over inflated the 18" tube, turned it inside out, put a 20x20 piece of ply, put 1/2" 18x18 piece of granite tile, put my HT processor on it to test, and then deflated the tube to where I wanted. Valve stem is towards the outside easily accessible, not touching anything.

 

What AnotherSpin suggested works. I will return my hard valve extensions, no need. I have a straw inserted under the tube as well.

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I raised the question of valve stem location yesterday; towards the inside vs outside.

 

There are two options; twist the tube so that the valve is towards the outside (I tried that last night, see my post #577 above), or have some kind of valve extension and keep the valve stem in its original location (inside).

 

I know twisting the tube exerts additional stresses in the tube material, in addition to the stresses caused by blowing the tube itself. So overall it becomes a complex equation. But twisting the tube sure makes it lot easier to manage pressure in the tube.

 

I checked in the morning, and tube (valve stem) is holding its position (not trying to go back to its original state).

 

Hope it helps. Thanks.

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My spkr platform (Barry design). Works like a charm

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]19536[/ATTACH]

 

I saw this little older post; what is on top of the roller balls, I see a tile or plywood? Thanks.