flattening warped vinyl

[bosshoss]

I used two of my record sleeves, so each piece is a double layer of thin cardboard. Each piece wouldn't be more than 1mm thick. The one on the left side is the original sleeve, with a hole the same size as the 45 label. I enlarged them a little bit, so that the carboard never touches the label area.

 

[Hicksville Hogwash]

I used two of my record sleeves, so each piece is a double layer of thin cardboard. Each piece wouldn't be more than 1mm thick. The one on the left side is the original sleeve, with a hole the same size as the 45 label. I enlarged them a little bit, so that the carboard never touches the label area.

You're on the right track.

You could try making two felt 45 sized circles for the same sandwiching purpose.

Experiment with varying thicknesses of felt. Some records have thinner vinyl so might need a thicker felt circle and a good thick 45 would need a slimmer felt circle.

Just an idea!

 

[bosshoss]

Experiment with varying thicknesses of felt. Some records have thinner vinyl so might need a thicker felt circle and a good thick 45 would need a slimmer felt circle.

Just an idea!

I will experiment, but obviously only on worthless 45s. I can imagine that a thinner felt pad would compress a 45 tighter because it would be firmer. But it would also probably increase the heat applied to the record, because the record would have less protection from the heating element in the base. The FLAT machine is extremely precise, in the amount of heat and the time it applies. It would be easy to upset the delicate balance. You can see from the Rolling Stones LP that it pretty much softens the record almost to its melting point. One more degree and things could get messy.

 

[Sebastian]

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!

.

That's a fantastic result! And on a great record like that (which sadly still eludes me). Nice to see that another copy of that 45 is now playable.

 

[bosshoss]

More successful 45 tests last night. It looks like the cardboard method is really working, and producing near perfect results on all tests done so far.

 

[bosshoss]

Here is the Mod4 45 which I previously treated with the FLAT machine (with no cardboard), and then with weights, and then with the picks. None of those methods really worked properly. This time I used the cardboard. It has been "flattened" 4 times now, and still sounds perfect (except for the scuffs - it is vg minus). Now it is perfectly flat as well. The original heat warp left a slight stain on the vinyl, but otherwise everything is good.

 

[Marc]

I had a bunch of rare punk 45s with nasty edge warp fixed by an Italian duo (http://www.vinylrecordsrestoration.com/) and they did a marvelous job. Cannot recommend them enough. See an example below

before

after

Here's another very convincing example of their work:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=625950568292723

 

[Frantic]

https://sacramento.craigslist.org/emd/d/sacramento-warped-record-fixing-machine/7333733888.html

the budget model

 

[Outside_Lookin_in]

I ordered the AFI FLAT.2 record flattener yesterday. $5250 (Aust.) well spent! It should arrive in a few days. I have a few 45s (and some LPs) which need to be un-warped, the main one being the alternate "red" label Denise 45 (although strangely mine has yellow labels). The alt Denise has a very minor edge warp, about 3cm wide, caused by heat. As well as the physical warp, it has some mild swishing noise caused by the heat warp, but only audible in the lead-in grooves. It will be interesting to see if the AFI flattening process can reduce this noise, as well as stopping the vertical movement of the tonearm.

Have you tried it on the Denise 45 yet? And what was the difference in the dead wax markings between the "yellow" label, and the yellow label - you did mention it, but I forget.

 

[bosshoss]

Yes I flattened the "red" label version Denise, it worked perfectly.
The deadwax as follows :

"red" label = 1-19-66 107 we
yellow label = wee 107

I got some thinner felt sheets from "My Felt Lady" online. They are about one half the thickness of the felt supplied with the FLAT machine. They work much better, together with the cardboard pieces. The white felt is the supplied sheet, and the grey felt is the new sheet (doubled over). As well as being thinner, it is much softer and more flexible, so it works with the cardboard cut-out sheets much better. You can see how it bends easily where the original does not. It allows the label area to press through the felt better, so the black vinyl area gets the full pressure. I would still use the original sheets for LPs.