Mark,
Almost all of this design is driven by the tools that I own. That would be a nice drill press and a power miter saw. Cut and drill, that's about it. There is that old saying from design skool, that "things look like how you made them". Again, from my many years in manufacturing, I have learned that it is not what you make, but how you make it. When I get to drilling the holes for the tone arm and platter bushing, I'm going to see my buddy who will put those holes in at a tolerance of +/-.0005. The rest will be done by myself as they are no where near critical at all.
My design (in my head) can go 2 possible directions. In the first design, it will look and function like ARMod, using different plinth and SAMM materials. It will be easier to make, but I may need my buddy to make me some end caps to cover the 5/4 decking material (to make it perdy).
The other design came about after a couple of beers the other night. I'm using an AR-XA platter, sub platter and bushing for the turntable. If I eliminate the outer ring and put a 1/4" thick piece of poly on top of the sub-platter, I can put the motor and pulley assembly much farther away, using a longer drive belt. I can't cut any material until the arm arrives, so I'm slightly on hold.
Wayner