Reconditioning Capstan Shaft
Why and what is it? Revox and Studer used to 'dull' the ends of their capstan shafts to provide better grip on the tape. Over time most capstan shafts become very shiny with this surface less able to provide the correct grip on the tape thus increasing wow and flutter.
When Revox Studer introduced the dulled shafts they indicated in a service bulletin that this allows lower pinch roller pressure with improvements in tape wander and thus wow and flutter but also less tape wear. To give you an idea of the significance of this, early machines had pinch roller pressure of 1.2 - 1.5 KgF whilst later machines this was reduced this to 0.8 KgF. Early machines you are able to adjust this but on later machines like the A810 it is essentially not adjustable or within a very narrow range. Thus, it is really important on later machines to restore the capstan surface. In the factory tech bulletin they also suggest that all early shafts would benefit from the same reconditioning process.
We have teamed up with a retired ex Studer engineer who has the machinery and know-how to recondition shafts. At one time in his apprenticeship he actually worked in the capstan shaft conditioning shop. I now insist all machines that come through our workshop have their shafts reconditioned.
Can your shaft be reconditioned? As long as there is no obvious mechanical degradation like grooves or ridges, most capstan shafts can be reconditioned. We can recondition any capstan shaft fitted to Studer and Revox machines including the old 36 series (G36 etc). The process does not involve grinding, or abrasion but more akin to fine controlled bead blasting which does not 'remove' metal per say but rather 'melds' the metal surface without significantly altering its dimensions. This can be done between 5 - 10 times. You simply send us your capstan shaft and when we have collected 5 or more they are done as a batch to keep setup costs down. An instruction sheet how to dismantle, prepare and send includes a self-assessment of whether the shaft can be reconditioned wll be sent to you. When we send the shaft back it includes a small amount of appropriate lubricant sufficient for 1 motor plus 2 or 3 service application in the future and of course another instruction sheet.
IF YOUR CAPSTAN SHAFT IS WORN OR DAMAGED. Help may be at hand. We may be able to lightly precision machine it first. Although this alters the diameter minimally, on machines with electronic capstan speed control you will be able to compensate for this very easily. (indeed our calibration tapes have a special tone to allow you to do exactly this - see our calibration kits).
For electronically commutated motors (multi wire >4) fitted to C270, A807 and other later machines - these are a lot more complicated as a number of different bearing and lubrication systems / types were used. The basic kit is applicable with one of two possible lubricants. The deluxe kit offered however does not contain extra parts but rather that you send the complete motor to us and we will recondition it complete - hence why it is a little more expensive. It will have the correct lubricant replenished and the motor assembled and tested.
Basic Kit. Capstan shaft reconditioning and vial of appropriate lubricant.
Deluxe Kit. As above + new plastic end cap with lube hole, new felt and bellville thrust washers.
For earlier motors with a roller bearing, it will also include a new low noise bearing.
For A-G36 motors it will include a full overhaul and lube kit for the flywheel assembly and motor.
For C270 and A807 motors this includes you sending the motor to us and we recondition it in toto for you.
GENERAL INFORMATION ON OUR KITS and Terms of Business
Our kits contain specially sourced, new, freshly manufactured components from reliable manufacturers whom we have been dealing with for many years. No NOS (new old stock) or 2nd hand items!!
Our own Nagravox Service Manual Instructions. For all kits, full instructions are included with pictures before and after detailing exactly which components go where and a host of useful tips, checks and basic calibration. We are still the only supplier of kits that has taken the time and effort to produce a detailed instruction manual on how to install our kits, what to look out for and how to maintain existing calibration. Some of these exceed 100 pages and share our collective knowledge and experience over many years and many hundreds of restorations.
Please Note: Pictures in gallery and description show various aspects of tape recorder restoration using Nagravox kits typical of our service sheets and what we encounter in our workshop. These are for elaboration / information only and are not what is supplied in our kit of parts which is detailed as a picture of components when you select the model.
Tools you will need.
· Solvent cleaner as specified in our instructions
· Screwdrivers, nose pliers, small hammer, hardwood or metal block, riveter with die / mandrill end 1.8 - 2.2 mm diam (most riveters have a selection of 3 or 4 ends to accommodate various rivet sizes,
· Paper towel and cotton or disposable gloves
IS THIS KIT FOR YOU? DO YOU HAVE THE SKILLS AND CONFIDENCE.
DO YOU NEED SPECIFIC SPARE PARTS? We have many individual components for all Revox and Studer machines. Please check back periodically or contact Nagravox with your requirements.
Some blurb about me and why I do this. Some people think I am a nutter! Sometimes I might just agree! My name is Peter Mony. I am according to the government "a senior citizen" - indeed I get to ride on all the trains, busses and ferries around Sydney for $2.50 flat fee a day (a perk of being 'old' I am told). I live in a stunningly beautiful part of the world in the Northern Beaches on the outskirts of Sydney Australia and am a tertiary qualified engineer and scientist. I have worked in a few countries around the world for various companies in many different roles including in later years a few of my own businesses. I love vintage audio equipment and have over the last 45 years been involved in one way or another with it. I started Nagravox in 2010 after 3 years of “hard thinking” (my wife thought I was asleep on the couch). I reckoned that I would love to see more of the old Revox, Studer and Nagra tape machines restored to their former glory. I didn't want to be just another Ebay vendor hocking parts at the best price I could get for them. In 2011 I sold my specialist electronic manufacturing business Powerform Controls which was and still is successfully involved in HVAC controllers and electric motor speed control. This allowed me to have time to do those things in life which don’t necessarily have to be about making lots of money but rather being led in an ambulatory manner by ones passions. I love playing classical guitar, classic cars and restoring old electronic gear. My wife and lovely daughters think I am nuts but they love me anyway. In 2016 I moved to a dedicated workshop and premises not far form home on the stunning Northern Beaches of Sydney. In my “man cave”, as my dearest wife calls it, I can indulge a hobby and passion reliving my youth in the 60’s and 70’s when I was a youngster working as a recording studio technician and building valve amplifiers for friends.
uh oh .... . ... here comes the small print and volumes of it ....! Sigh ....... bonehead small print .... apologies for the 'officious' stuff!
IMPORTANT THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN YOU BUY FROM NAGRAVOX. THESE ARE PART OF OUR TERMS and CONDITIONS of DOING BUSINESS.
1. COMBINED ITEMS and POSTAGE SAVINGS
If you are purchasing more than one item or kit, WE DEFINITELY OFFER COMBINED POSTAGE – no matter what a silly ebay message may say!!!! . Please either use the shopping cart (if available on your country version of ebay) or purchase individually BUT DON’T PAY. Continue buying individually BUT DON'T pay - as many times as you like. You can request an invoice if this option is available (not all eBay’s are the same!!!!) rather than paying straight away – or just don’t do anything and I will send you a combined ebay invoice. This will enable us to send you a realistic invoice with appropriate reduced postage. This is also the best way for international customers where the Ebay calculator for postage may be inaccurate. Some country’s Ebay works oddly – there is believe it or not little consistency and somehow there is no shopping cart or it is complicated to combine the way one should be able to. WE DEFINATELY OFFER COMBINED POSTAGE despite what ebay message might tell you (I have complained countless times and they refute there is a problem with some countries ebay version). If this is the case and you have difficulty combining multiple items, may I suggest you purchase the 1st item and then send me a note on your paymnet with your other requirements and I will send a separate additional invoice. Ok ... now I am going to let it all hang out here and spit the dummy / all toys out the cot! Many people just ignore this and buy and pay for multiple items separately with the implication, "he'll figure it out". Hmmm I won’t! To refund the extra postage paid is a real hassle and ebay won’t refund their commission on the postage making me even crankier!!!. So, from now on, if you won’t follow these directions and you pay multiple times expecting me to figure it all out - I won’t. It will just stay as it is and I will have a beer on you. Thanks and cheers.
2. PLEASE NOTE - VERY IMPORTANT - POSTAGE COSTS, TIMES, TRACKABILITY, RISK and MORE……
I apologise for burdening you with this bonehead stuff. The Ebay / Australia Post link up charges shown on Ebay are not clear indeed possibly misleading. There is a collaboration and electronic link-up between Ebay and Australia Post which for the most part works well but there are some uh...oh's. We now only offer 2 levels of postage as insisted on by Ebay and Paypal and cannot offer the cheaper non tracked airmail service unfortunately. For some countries particularly in Eastern Europe, some Asian countries and South America, there is NO TRACKED service. This is a conundrum because ebay and Paypal insist on a tracked service but have their heads in the sand when it comes to practical alternatives. If we have to use airmail or registered service because there is no tracked service – the risk of this service with NO TRACKING is yours. You always have the option of selecting a courier service which is ridiculously expensive but is trackable at least. Why ebay don’t indicate that a tracked service is not available to your country is anyone’s guess – who knows !!!!!! We have recently ascertained that even registered airmail is trackable but just not by you directly on line. If you take the tracking or consignment no. to your local post office they can track it internally. This works in most of the countries that don't have tracked link up with Australia Post ... like Switzerland, Norway, Italy, Greece, Romania, Russian Federation etc etc. Another learning moment recently. International. Anything over 2 Kg can’t go Pack n Track and so will go registered or signed for airmail.
POSTAGE SERVICES
Why is the postage so expensive? Ebay charge a full commission on postage and we pass that on to you. Ebay insist on a tracked service (not always possible but they conveniently ignore that) which adds an additional cost. Some of the ebay postage calculators are in ‘lah lah’ land – and they may not be always in your favour!
Local Australian Domestic is via Australia Post 500g. 1Kg or > satchel. They are trackable and take 4-10 days to most of Australia except the wop wops which is a bit longer.
International. Tracked or registered Airmail International via Australia Post International Airmail Service. To those countries postal service that have a transparent international tracking system – we will send via a special Australia Post tracked service (Pack n Track). For those countries who don’t have an international compatible trackable collaboration we will send registered post which is safer, is not user trackable but is trackable by the post office internally in your country on request by you going down to the local counter. The cost is typically approximately ~$20 to New Zealand and parts of Asia, ~$26 to N America and other parts of Asia and ~$30 to Europe and most other parts of the world. The Ebay calculator will work this out more precisely and WILL include their commission!! Please note that some spare art items we add a $30 surcharge which ebay adds onto the postage. This surcharge is fully refunded if you purchase a kit with the part/s and appropriately request an invoice. We do this for parts that are low cost and a hassle t sell individually and also we try to reserve parts as a convenience for customers who are committed to overhauling their machines properly using a kit.
Time to destination. 1 - 4 weeks. Mostly the speed is outstanding but sometimes it’s a bit slow for an airmail service but I think things get held up in your customs and local post who take their time. Please see proviso above of your risk if only registered or airmail service to your country is selected or only available. Want your stuff in a hurry? Courier / Express International. This is a fast (2 - 4 days), trackable, insured service and "ouch" expensive. We use either Australia Post EMS or DHL. Is it worth It.? If you are in a hurry or are really dubious of your post system (eg most places in Africa) then maybe. We are investigating a DHL service that gets out of Australia on DHL but then coordinates with the national postal service in your country. It’s looking promising… From time to time I may coordinate multiple items postage to a particular country and you may get your parcel via your local postal service. Please don't ask me to specifically use this facility as I may not be able to. All postage out of EEC will be using La Poste or Royal Mail and the "signed for" option which is trackable.
DECLARATION of value. Usually this is at what you paid. However, I believe, vintage audio enthusiasts should not be penalised for their hobby by greedy governments! So, if you want a specific value declared but at your risk, just ask. Usually AUS$25 is the threshold.
POSTAGE WEIGHT CATEGORIES The first tier of weight category is at 500g and then 1Kg, 1.5Kg etc. (Domestic next category is 3Kg). If it goes over 500g for international its roughly 0.85x the lesser weight category cost. Most cap pot kits weigh between 245 and 450g. Motor kits are about 150g. Do ask for postage consolidation / invoice otherwise Ebay calculates separate postage charges on multiple items and it will cost you more. WE DEFINITELY OFFER COMBINED POSTAGE.
3. YOUR ADDRESS – this is really really important
It may be obvious but PLEASE make sure your address is 100% correct and add more information if there could be any possibility of ambiguity. THERE IS A LIMIT of 32 characters per line in the ebay / Paypal / Australia Post automatic link up and it does not warn you that address lines longer than 32 characters will be truncated. Do not exceed this 30character including spaces limit per line. Do not use foreign language symbols like o ß ˘ ˆ - ~ ° Ç . The automatic link between Ebay / Paypal and Australia Post will not translate these correctly and your parcel may be incorrectly addressed. We rely on this auto link up which is very good but won’t translate symbols properly or long lines of characters. Please also use capitalisation for your name etc. It’s very unprofessional and just sloppy to use all lower case – yes I am a grumpy old man!. You be surprised how may addresses we get from Ebay without capitalisation, vague inferences to house or flat nos, all long address on 1 line and incomplete names. The information you provide to Paypal is automatically transferred into Australia Post and onto a label. IT MUST BE PERFECTLY CLEAR and ACCURATE. If it isn’t – the fault is with you and so is the risk.
Please make sure:
· DON’T exceed 30 characters per line including spaces. Use an extra line.
· Your full name is clear and capitalised appropriately eg Mr Firstname Surname etc
· House / flat / section number and street number are clearly demarcated with a comma and space between them. Don’t use foreign language symbols like o ß ˘ ˆ - ~ ° these won’t be directly translatable by Aus Post / Ebay / Paypal. Spell it out on a separate line if it is a flat in a block in a street – no shorthand.
· Suburb, Town is clearly shown · City is shown on a separate line
· UK people – Australia Post does not recognise your little hamlet of 5 people in the middle of a suburb or town. Add more information in case it spits the dummy which it often does for UK addresses – it likes a known suburb, town or city.
· Postal or Zip code is shown exactly as it should be. Don’t add spaces, embellishments or abbreviations. Australia Post system checks to see it is a valid international post code and spits the dummy if it isn’t.
· DON’T use abbreviations for your state. Spell it out fully. Australia Post / ebay link up has a problem with this. Eg TX, MN etc means nothing to it.
· Put your phone number in. SERIOUSLY its good idea if your post service want to get hold of you concerning your parcel! So many people don’t put a phone number in – why?
· Put your direct contactable email address in – and please not one that you never use - I am not psychic!
4. WAITING FOR YOUR PARCEL
We only post out once a week usually on Tueday or Wednesday. We have given approx transit times above and these are on the pessimistic side of what Australia Post indicates. Usually things are sent within a day or two airmail out of Australia once lodged. However parcels are often held up with your local post and customs for days and even weeks. From time to time we will also post out some parts from the EU using either LA Poste or Royal Mail this may or may or may not speed things up - who knows! Parcels to South America and East European countries can take up to 6 weeks – why – only the Gods know! Canada often has very slow postage. UK, EU and USA are usually pretty quick but there are exceptions sometimes to the USA where some states postal service sometimes forget to wake up in the mornings.
5. GETTING SERVICE SHEETS and LITERATURE
THESE ARE NOT INCLUDED IN WHAT WE SEND YOU – you must request them. We do not include these in the parcel simply because postage and printing will cost more and updates are difficult to accommodate. So, once you have received the parcel please contact us on our direct email (no ebay mail please!) and indicate what kit you purchased. Contact us as per package label and we will gladly authorise MailBigFile to send you a once only link to download the service sheet. Please no Ebay mail - we cannot use that service for service sheets - it’s JUST NOT POSSIBLE. Remember, please also detail exactly what kits you purchased as it saves me time having to look it up. The service sheets are too big to send on normal emails as some email providers have a limit of 10 Mb. Some of our files are 200Mb. So MailBigFile works well. Please just be patient during the down load – it does take time and the strange interface makes it seem like nothing is happening. It is … go make a cup of tea! Please note ALL our literature is copyright and by receiving these you implicitly agree to comply with our copyright policy.
6. SUPPORT FOR NAGRAVOX KITS and PARTS.
I supply service sheets and support on the following basis.
You must request the service sheets by communicating directly with me by email after your kit has arrived as per above. This then will be sent via a download service as a pdf document as they are usually too big for email. This may seem a strange way to do things but it is the most effective for me to make sure you have the latest service sheets as well as minimising postage and printing costs.
Parts and cut down kits don't generally have service sheets - only full kits. Sometimes however I may have written a technical note applicable to a particular part and its installation which with pleasure is available to you.
Personal online support in the form of questions, problems, issues, advice etc via email or Skype or Facetime can only be given to those diy purchasers that have purchased kits and downloaded the applicable service sheets. Please don't expect support if you don't bother to look at my service sheets. Although I have never had to limit the amount of time I give you in free support, in the future I reserve the right to possibly ask you for payment of extended support that may run into many hours or over many days.
Service Sheets are strictly copyright protected and I reserve all rights in any form of my IP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Copyright © Jenform Australia Pty Ltd 2011. My service guides contain material protected under International Copyright Laws and Treaties. You may only use it for the private diy purposes intended – ie updating / upgrading / repairing your own vintage electronic device for which you have purchased a kit from Nagravox. No 3rd party is authorised. Any unauthorized reprint or use of any of my material is prohibited. No part of any guide may be reproduced, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written consent from Jenform Australia Pty Ltd - which will not be unreasonably withheld - just ask!
Service sheets are for DIY private enthusiast use only and NOT for commercial service, sales or competitors unless you have received permission by prior arrangement with me. This is not unreasonably withheld and I am quite approachable on a commercial liaison and agreement basis. I welcome commercial purchasers on a mutually cooperative and fellowship basis
6. WARRANTY
All our kits are warranted for 2 years from date of purchase on the basis of component replacement. In the unlikely event that you have a problem or are not happy with any aspect please contact us and give us a chance to remedy the situation.
7. IMPERFECTIONS definitely NO NOS or 2nd hand!
WE DON’T SELL ANY 2nd HAND CAPS or POTS! On the can type multi-caps and electrolytics we hand make these and epoxy encapsulate them so there may be small traces of glue on the terminals. Just scrape or file clean before soldering. Gosh … it is hand made by me personally… I might even autograph one for you…. and may be famous one day …
8. IF YOU HAVE AN ISSUE
Please contact me by simply sending a message on ebay or directly (better). Any other response somehow invokes Ebay police! This includes “I haven’t got my package yet”. Ebay very unfairly immediately consider the seller guilty of something and block funds with a pending black mark. Even if you have only just asked! We have very few issues and pride ourselves that nearly all are resolved easily. Very seldom do we have an unreasonable customer and most of you are into the spirit and credo in which I make these kits and parts available – indeed my raison d’etre. I am here not because I need to make a living from Ebay as a beady eyed vendor or want to gouge as much as I can out of you. I am here because I want to see more of these old machines restored and treasured as they should be. If you are grumpy and a pain in the …. with an attitude please rather don’t buy anything from me. If you are a happy sort and have a positive outlook seeing the good in people rather than the negative, you will get a lot out of me and our relationship. We should always be able to sit down and have a cup of tea, glass of wine and a chat. So - No boneheads please! Thanks. Remember, contact me direct which is easier for me to give in depth answers.
I apologise for all this “official” stuff above but over the years it has become necessary unfortunately. Good on ya (as we say down under!) for reading this far!
All the best with your restoration and hobby. I hope our kits and parts can help you achieve your goal of a perfectly operating Studer or Revox machine ... running like the proverbial Swiss watch! May the analogue force be with you.
Kind Regards,
Upbeat Pete at Nagravox Australia.