Woodsong Audio Thorens TD124 Torlon Thrust Bearing Sapphire Ball You Want This

Description

Yes, if you have a TD124, you want this bearing kit.
Speed stability is critical for high quality sound reproduction in turntables.  This thrust bearing kit is the best design we are aware of for the TD124. It is sound engineering and a significant upgrade over stock. Immediate benefits are improved speed stability, improved platter spin-down time, and a leak free bearing.
As seen in the two graph images in this listing, as measured on a Hewlett-Packard Spectrum analyzer, the original TD124 thrust bearing design is not ideal.  The original design consists of a thin (1mm +/-) plastic pad that immediately deforms under the weight of the platter as delivered by the original main spindle thrust ball. This increases surface area in the single point of contact, and makes the difficult task of allowing any oil into the center of the point of contact even more impossible. The result is immediate wear and friction as shown in the measurement graph image of the delrin pad.  In the other image, the sharp peak of the Woodsong Thrust bearing for the TD124 is clearly superior.
The actual thrust pad consists of a 6mm thick Torlon pad.  Torlon is an advanced engineering plastic that is designed for bearings, and has a very high compressive strength, much more so than delrin.  Because of the 6mm thickness, deformation is kept to an minimum.
After 4 years of installing these, seeing first hand the results, and selling out the first run of 250, our second run of these is now available. Consensus among TD124 owners and technicians is that this bearing is the best available. Considerably increased spin down time of the platter is to be expected in almost every case. Other aftermarket thrust caps for the TD124 that use a thin plastic disc like the original do not compare. This is one of the most impactful easily applied upgrades you can do to your 124.  (the other is a new idler wheel)
Besides greatly improved speed stability, when correctly installed this bearing kit eliminates any leakage of oil from the bearing housing.  The original design almost always leaks all of the oil from the bearing housing, not good.
Material matching between the Torlon pad and the Sapphire ball is ideal, and keeps wear to a minimum.  Sapphire is extremely hard, much harder than steel, and the finish is smoother.
The cap is CNC machined from 932 Bronze.
The kit includes the bronze cap, the torlon thrust pad, a Grade 5 sapphire ball matching the size of the original steel thrust ball, 2 gaskets (only one is used, the other is spare) mounting screws, and the matching hex key.  Installation is relatively easy. We have a video on removing the brass retainer clip on our facebook page  'Thorens TD124 and Garrard 301/401 Support Group', including exact reference to the best model of jeweler's screwdriver we have found for prying the clip free.
This is our original design.
If you have a TD124, you want this.
Woodsong Audio specializes in the Thorens TD124, the Garrard 301, and the Garrard 401.  We are meticulous to an extreme, and offer a 2 year limited warranty on our service work. We restore your TD124 to better than new spec.