Well Tempered Simplex arm and wiring

My base for the Simplex plinth turned out great - it's the same 15" x 15" x 1.25" size of the plinth - a matte black metal picture frame filled with 3 layers of ply. I moved the squash balls to the bottom of the base and separated the base and plinth with 2.5"d  1/4" Sorbothane discs. The gap is minimal. To gain height to clear screw heads protruding below the plinth, I added a bit more height to the leftover centers from drilling the holes in the base and hot glued these cylinders into the plinth holes along with 1.5" d washers on the bottom of each foot. The metal makes such good contact with the Sorbothane that it feels like the plinth and base are screwed together. Now to drill the hole for the WTRP bearing, add the WTRP spindle and platter, and install the pillar and support arm parts. My 3D printed silicon pot should arrive shortly. The bearing reaches clear to the bottom of the base's bottom. I hope to make the base hole larger than the bearing to further isolate the plinth from the base.

mr_m, it dawned on me that I could 3D print a similar connector to what the Amadeus ll uses to attach the ball and arm (why not make it more like the upscale model rather than the Simplex...).

Can you tell me a little about the piece that connects the arm and golf ball on the Amadeus ll? How deep is the entire unit and is it aluminum? Dimensions of the various surfaces would help. How deep is the lower circular piece and it's diameter? Is it curved to fit the ball underneath or is the ball itself cut in any way? I see a screw goes thru the top down into the ball before the arm slides in... Can you tell me the diameter of your tonearm? I've used a 6mm (slightly smaller than 1/4"d) carbon fiber shaft for an arm previously which worked well.

The silver cap is either aluminum or metal, not sure. It has a silver paint coat on it. The caps overall depth is 1 inch. The upper part of the cap is 1/2 inch, the part that holds the arm, and the lower part is 1/2 inch. The cap is approx. same dimension as a golf ball. Golf ball is cut in half. The bottom part of cap is flat to fit cut golf ball. top portion of cap is curved, only for cosmetic reasons I presume. What you see at top of cap is not a set screw. It is just a hole which exposes a small portion of tonearm. Tonearm is just a tiny bit smaller than 1/4 inch in diameter. I would have to remove the arm to get an exact measurement. Would rather not do that for set up reasons as I have arm dialed in for my cartridge.

Understood - no need to unmount anything! I see that top hole as where a screw inserts down into the ball half, then the arm tube is inserted. Of course, they could be joined with epoxy, which is what I might do. On an assembly line, screws and not epoxy make more sense... What's the deal with the small  horizontal tube for the fishing line in the ball cap? I've often wondered, does the line go all the way through? If so, how would it azimuth work if the fishing line isn't fixed to the ball? I have epoxied brass nuts in holes for use with brass screws to mount the fishing line in my 2 clone arms.

BTW, my plinth and base are drilled and bearing, spindle and platter installed and turning well. Pillar samples are drilled and ready to cut along with suspension arm for install. 3D printed cup should be here today. Suspension arm is 3" in length or a bit longer (t's silly, but why not be exact...)? Would love to send you a pic at some point.

In the past, I've used a 6mm od diameter carbon fiber rod (4mm id). 6mm us slightly smaller than 1/4". From what I see, a standard arrow shaft is 5/16" od, which would make it 7.9mm od. Any way you can confirm your arm's diameter? Also, how does the cartridge mount connect to the carbon fiber shaft from the bottom? It looks like it's carved out a bit and the shaft sits into it. Glued on or screwed on?