Vinyl Flat Record Flattener
 

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I discover by chance an equipment to make maintenance and service by old vinyl records, especially if they are in a bent and warped condition.

Are there already experiences ??
Thank you for your comments.

It's been the subject of avid discussion in our local audiophile club, but as yet no one I know has bought one. I can't see why it wouldn't work assuming time and sufficient rigidity.

I may ask for one for Christmas.. :santa:

seems like a couple flat plates and some bricks would do the same thing. Use something slightly resilient between record and plate. Start with a little weight and experiment?

More or less what I have been doing for decades with mixed success. This device seems more elegant but no doubt no more effective. Storing a lot of bricks in my listening room is a big problem though.. :D

so use books ;) I bet a little gentle heat would also do wonders. heat the plates to ~140F, put a towel or two over them to insulate before loading on the books...

Can I do this in my waffle iron?

You'd have to rig up some sort of rheostat to reduce the temp, but if it is large enough and has removable plates, I bet it would work better than you imagine ;)

I knew a gent who actually had one; from what I remember about the discussions with him, he recommends thoroughly cleaning the records before flattening as otherwise dust would be pressed into the records.

I think his experience was essentially that for slightly warped records it was working fine, for more extreme cases multiple tries were needed.

However, looking at the link, his machine was a much more sophisticated unit.

Hannes

I've done the heating thing and I don't recommend it as the vinyl may deform - I pre-heated my oven to 140 degrees and shut it off before placing the record in the oven on a flat cookie sheet in a paper liner.. Upon removal from the oven I then pressed the record, and managed to audibly distort the grooves nearest the outer edge of the record in one particular spot. This record is still playable but I will never again apply heat to a record I value.

Most of the books I have are not nearly heavy enough from experience.. I find it takes something in excess of 50lbs evenly applied across the entire record surface to do any good at all.

Fair enough, try 100-120F. Obviously experimenting on a record you value is not the way to develop a process. Use some c-clamps with big washers, and a small bolt through the hole, tightened with a torque wrench of course. ;)