Warped viny press

[David Mccallum]

A machine which could make flat disks out of my mainly recent and non intentional purchases of warped vinyl, preferably diy or kit of course.

Does such a thing already exist? or is it just a pipe dream.

[mikew27]

Would a Corby Trouser Press work?

When the car boot sales resume I think I may have to buy one & try it an a scrap record.

Might be just the ticket with some modifications (temperature reduction maybe)

[Paul Bannister]

There is American heated record press,selling for somewhere between £750 - £1,000 pounds.

[David Mccallum]

Trust the yanks to come up with something like that, then make it practically useless by pricing it way too high.

Think i like mikew's idea better, there must be loads of unwanted trouser presses around.

If you get it to work, let us know eh, worth a laugh if nothing else

[Greg.]

The trouser press is a non starter because it generates far to much heat. A while ago several of us tried to figure a way of flattening warped records. You may end up with a flat disc, but it'll be unpayable, I promise. Very low heat is needed to flatten warped records.

I tried several options, the best being laying the warped record between two sections of glass and rest on top of a central heating boiler for a while to heat up, then remove and allow to cool naturally. I ended up with a flat playable disc but sound was definitely damaged.

In the end I gave up. I don't think there is an affordable or DIY option here. I and others have experimented alot. The expensive American option might work and the expense probably refects the difficulty in achieving a good repair (or not if like me you are cynical about the product performance claims).

In the end I accepted to play warped or scrap. I didn't find any reasonable alternative.

[David Mccallum]

Aye your probably right, it's a non starter - i was thinking with a very low heat and a bit of pressure it may work.

Probably better off laying the worst of them on a flat surface like a cupboard shelf with say about another twenty or thirty lps stacked on top and forget about them for a year or two

[steve271955]

buy two sheets of plate glass and just apply a bit of wieght to the top one,with album in between them,in a warmish place(airing cupboard or similar,and let time do its thing!(have edges of glass ground for safety

[Richard]

I'd noticed since buying back into vinyl that none of my secondhand purchases - not a single one of 200+ this last year or two - are warped. Scratched and worn maybe but dead flat.

It ocurred to me that either the warped ones had been thrown out long ago, and had not made it to the car boots, or constant light pressure and time stored jammed in boxes had allowed the vinyl to relax back into shape. When it was moulded it was flat and perhaps the warps only occured afterwards by bad storage in Boots and WHSmiths etc. Certainly back then I had plenty of new ones with ski-jump warps or bowl-shaped dishing to amuse me but not now.

Maybe just store them flat in their sleeves in the bottom of a pile or sandwiched tightly on a shelf for a few years....

[Greg.]

Yes, good point Richard. I rarely find a warped record for sale now old or new although I still have one or two in my library which are just playable and I like too much to throw out. It does seem warped records was a thing from the 70/80's and mainly identified when newly purchased.