flattening warped vinyl

bosshoss said:
A slight hitch in my plans for world domination of the record flattening market. The FLAT.2 machine arrived today, but one of the glass side panels is cracked. I've contacted the supplier and he will replace the unit, but there will be a delay. Meanwhile he has asked me not to use the faulty unit. Disappointing. Here's the unboxing, which proceeded well until my nephew noticed the cracked side panel. You can see that the glass panel is quite thin at the point of breakage.
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Hi Mark,

Is the device up and running yet?
 
The first test with the replacement FLAT unit is very disappointing. I tried a 45 that has an edge warp in one small area only. The diameter of the edge warp is around 35mm, in a semi-circular shape, typical of a small heat warp. It's not a very bad looking edge warp, but it causes the record to skip multiple times. The FLAT machine did absolutely nothing to fix the warp. I did the entire 5 hour procedure twice, the second time with an additional weight on the glass.

Nothing. :evil:

Next I will try a 45 that has a more gradual and overall warp. I think that should be much better. But I am losing faith at this stage, considering the first test made absolutely no difference visually or sonically!

Stop Press...
Overnight I have decided to try a radical modification. I have wedged a Jim Dunlop guitar pick directly underneath the edge warp area, and set the machine going again. This will either destroy the record or the pick (or both), or it could magically work to fix the warp. I won't know until I wake up tomorrow.
 
Was it a styrene record or a vinyl one you tried? I imagine certain flimsy vinyl pressings may be easier to unwarp.
 
Jim said:
Was it a styrene record or a vinyl one you tried? I imagine certain flimsy vinyl pressings may be easier to unwarp.
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It's vinyl. The instruction manual states that the machine only works on vinyl, so if I try a styrene 45, it will have to be a worthless one until I see the results.

2 x JD picks works very well. The test record is pretty good now, but it will never be perfectly flat. I think all tightly edge-warped 45s will have to be given the JD-pick treatment, otherwise it just doesn't work. With the picks, you can get a very good result but obviously you have to be careful where you place the picks and perhaps lucky...
 
I'm learning by my mistakes. Plastic picks such as Jim Dunlop can not be used, because when heated they emit some gas or something that gets into the vinyl and causes tiny indented bubbles. I will have to change to cardboard shims next time.
 
Here is a photo of the method I used to partially fix the warped 45.

JDPick.jpg
 
And here is a totally destroyed Rolling Stones LP, before and after. The LP was really melted having been left out in the sun apparently. The vinyl had been heated by the sun so badly, that it will never sound right, even when flat. But look how flat it is now, after one standard pass in the FLAT machine.

 
I have had another idea to get a better result from 45s, which I will try out soon.
I will cut two pieces of cardboard the same size as a 45. Then I will cut a hole in the cardboard pieces, the same size as the 45 label. Then I will place one piece of the cardboard underneath the first white felt mat. On top of the first mat, I will place the warped 45 as usual, but aligned with the cardboard so the label is in the same place as the hole in the cardboard. Then i will place the second white felt mat, and lastly the second piece of cardboard, again aligned with the record.
The effect of this should be to allow the label area to sink into the white felt mat, but the vinyl area will be held tighter by the cardboard sandwich. That should apply most of the pressure onto the vinyl, and much less on the label area. The way things are now, the thickness of the label is stopping the vinyl from being compressed and flattened properly. Small but violent edge warps are sometimes only about one millimeter deep. The vinyl will still only touch the white felt mats, so there should be no danger to the vinyl (unlike with the picks).
 
Unfortunately all these devices seem to be constructed with LP's in mind and an "it also works for singles" attitude . It will be interesting to see how your cardboard idea will work out .
 
mr. splendid said:
Unfortunately all these devices seem to be constructed with LP's in mind and an "it also works for singles" attitude . It will be interesting to see how your cardboard idea will work out .
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Yes, that's the trouble. It needs an adapter for 45s, maybe similar to the idea I am trying now.
 
My new cardboard invention works perfectly, as you can see in this before/after comparison. The record is a soul 45 I found in the Fine Recording Studio remains. It's very valuable, usually goes for around $800+, so it's well worth the 5 hour fix. Without the cardboard inserts, this record could not have been fixed. A very pleasing result!

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