He who dares...... Making an unplayable record come to life

[Hammie]

Have a white demo of BUSTER AND EDDIE, had it for a while and got it off ebay. The guy selling it

to be fair said it had a nasty edge warp BUT it DID play thro with a lot of weight on his record players

tone arm. Hardly any bids obviously, left well alone too risky ? I put a speculative bid of $75 and actually

won it. When it arrived, sure enough it had a bad edge warp and for the first ten or so revolutions it would

jump wherever at the start grooves i placed the arm. I had to heavily load the tone arm to get playing success.

So I thought oh well I didnt pay a lot for it, it was worth a punt, then I just stuck it in my record box and forgot

about it.

Over time however, and having been asked several times to play a request for BUSTER AND EDDIE it started to 

get to me as I would'nt interfere with peoples Dj equipment to weight up the arm on a deck so I could risk playing

said record.

So I had heard of a crude method to FLATTEN the edge warp so I thought 'he who dares' just give ita go.....

Taking a domestic clothes iron set at the lowest heat I cut a foot square area out of a newspaper(most of the sheets

thickness) and folded the paper in half to a thickness of about 2-3mm. Letting the iron (switched off) cool for about

a couple of minutes I placed the record inside the folded newspaper (2-3mm thick) either side of the record vinyl area

effected by the bad warp. Laying the record with paper either side on a hard flat surface like a kitchen work top I the

applied the nearly toucheable iron plate to the top layer of paper covering the record.Then with a gentle ironing motion

locally over the warp for a minute or two transfering, not to hot a heat thro' the newspaper, I was able to gradually flatten

the offending warp. Doing this did leave a kind of light sheen on the vinyl, obviously apply heat to B SIDE of record but

after a couple of goes I was able to play the record successfully without having to add any weight to the arm. RESULT !!!!

I now have a BUSTER AND EDDIE to play out at gigs, bring on the requests

Incidentally I dont recommend trying this with a STYRENE record, I just think vinyl is a bit more workable with a heat process.

If you have any records in the same state maybe a cheapie, then give  it a try, remember be patient better to only put a 'warm'

heat into the method and keep checking your record and gradually trying a little more heat and a little longer with the ironing

pressure.   It worked for me          

 

Edited June 20, 2015 by hammie

[Guest smudgesmith]

Ian "The Iron" lol

 

[Ncfc]

Have a white demo of BUSTER AND EDDIE, had it for a while and got it off ebay. The guy selling it

to be fair said it had a nasty edge warp BUT it DID play thro with a lot of weight on his record players

tone arm. Hardly any bids obviously, left well alone too risky ? I put a speculative bid of $75 and actually

won it. When it arrived, sure enough it had a bad edge warp and for the first ten or so revolutions it would

jump wherever at the start grooves i placed the arm. I had to heavily load the tone arm to get playing success.

So I thought oh well I didnt pay a lot for it, it was worth a punt, then I just stuck it in my record box and forgot

about it.

Over time however, and having been asked several times to play a request for BUSTER AND EDDIE it started to 

get to me as I would'nt interfere with peoples Dj equipment to weight up the arm on a deck so I could risk playing

said record.

So I had heard of a crude method to FLATTEN the edge warp so I thought 'he who dares' just give ita go.....

Taking a domestic clothes iron set at the lowest heat I cut a foot square area out of a newspaper(most of the sheets

thickness) and folded the paper in half to a thickness of about 2-3mm. Letting the iron (switched off) cool for about

a couple of minutes I placed the record inside the folded newspaper (2-3mm thick) either side of the record vinyl area

effected by the bad warp. Laying the record with paper either side on a hard flat surface like a kitchen work top I the

applied the nearly toucheable iron plate to the top layer of paper covering the record.Then with a gentle ironing motion

locally over the warp for a minute or two transfering, not to hot a heat thro' the newspaper, I was able to gradually flatten

the offending warp. Doing this did leave a kind of light sheen on the vinyl, obviously apply heat to B SIDE of record but

after a couple of goes I was able to play the record successfully without having to add any weight to the arm. RESULT !!!!

I now have a BUSTER AND EDDIE to play out at gigs, bring on the requests

Incidentally I dont recommend trying this with a STYRENE record, I just think vinyl is a bit more workable with a heat process.

If you have any records in the same state maybe a cheapie, then give  it a try, remember be patient better to only put a 'warm'

heat into the method and keep checking your record and gradually trying a little more heat and a little longer with the ironing

pressure.   It worked for me          

 

My Mark 1v on Brite lite was sold to me with a skip(back in 80s),i just pushed down hard on needle and and moved disc back and fourth over skip.Played fine since though i never play it these days.

Got some shirts that need doing Hammie!

[Frankie Crocker]

Never heard of this method but might give it a try. Putting a warped record between two sheets of glass in a hot oven crinkled it beyond use so I wish I had known of this idea back then.

[Jules]

some dealer gave me a really badly warped eddies my name - parkway , now this does work,  get a big, big book, hold the record over the gas ring on a cooker, quite high above..say 8 inches, watch carefully and it will slowly start to melt, quickly put it in the middle of the book and slam shut, comes out straight as a die and plays fine!!

[Swifty]

some dealer gave me a really badly warped eddies my name - parkway , now this does work,  get a big, big book, hold the record over the gas ring on a cooker, quite high above..say 8 inches, watch carefully and it will slowly start to melt, quickly put it in the middle of the book and slam shut, comes out straight as a die and plays fine!!

Jules , which book does it have to be , not being much of a reader I may struggle ? 

[Chris L]

Well done ! never underestimate the ingenuity of the soul fan   I do believe there's a company in Holland that does flatten records, albeit at owners risk. You're right don't even think about it with styrene. Good luck.

[Hammie]

Jules , which book does it have to be , not being much of a reader I may struggle ? 

Guiness book of RECORDS would be ideal 

[Swifty]

Guiness book of RECORDS would be ideal 

[wolfie66]

Don't suppose you've any tips for removing scratches on a Roy Roberts caused by Darth Vader's (Lego) head at all?  I've tried stamping Darth into the floor but the scratch is still there....

...and my heel really hurts........