I searched for this before making this post--nothing.
I have some vinyl LP records (and maybe some old 78's) that have warped.
How can they be repaired? I was thinking maybe sandwiched between two very flat hard surfaces, in an oven @ 150 deg. or so?
Anyone have a fix for this?
Crossing my fingers.

Harold

Harold,

You may want to search around in the Audiokarma forum. Seems like I saw a technique there similar to what you described. I think they used two pieces of glass, similar temp and after the LP got warm turned the oven off, left it closed and cool overnight. The slow cool down and the proper temp seem to be key.

On 78's probably not a good idea.....

Thanks,

Mike

If they're warped, throw them away. Warped records will make the needle hop, skip and jump.

Throw them away!???? I turn them into bowls and give them as presents...they look something like this....

Ha! I actually saw "bowls" like these recently at an indoor Antique Co-Op. I was rather shocked at the asking price of $45.00. They were all early Beatles LPs and I certainly hope they were not playable before being "reformed."

News flash: they still will get thrown away! I got one as a gift and trashed it after I tried to use it for a nice bowl of soup. What a mess

Roflmao...they are not made for soup! Or any other food for that matter candy or chips maybe, but no other food. I use mine as catchalls, candy bowls...etc. I do fill the hole in the bottom with some clear acrylic stuff so that nothing falls out....still not meant to eat soup out of.

Well I tried to cover the hole in the 45, but it still leaked. The only gift I ever enjoyed less than that one was the vase made out of an 8-track tape. That was a disaster, too.

This product flattens records. http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=KZAScU584ZA

Can 78's warp? All I have ever seen were...good ones, scratched ones...and broken or chipped ones!

Yes I have a few that are warped people don't take care of those things piled under junk all the time

78's can definitely warp. I have tossed a few hundred away that have come in collections. Besides condition regarding scratches and chips, warp is the 2nd thing I check. Laying flat over decades is the main culprit.

Definitely seen warped 78s. But since they're made out of completely different materials from more modern records, "melting" them back into shape would likely have very little effect other than to singe them a bit, possibly making them even more brittle than they already are.

So if you have warped 78s, here's what you do:

Play them on a Victrola.

They won't last as long as on an electric turntable, but the heavy acoustic tonearm & sound box is more than enough to keep the needle from skipping. And if it won't play well on a "better" system anyway, you might as well get what enjoyment you can out of it.

For slightly to moderately warped shellac 78's, put them between 2 pieces of clean heavy glass and let them sit outside in the sun @ 80F or so. Check often (hourly?) to see how the warp is coming out by playing on a turntable, and repeat until you are happy with the results. I did that the other day for a Memphis Jug Band 78 that I had picked up with a bizarre multiple warp that couldn't be played with even 6g or tracking force. Now it tracks great at 2g.
Don't leave it out too long, however, or in too hot of environment, otherwise you could have issues with too much flattening and the fidelity will suffer.
Joe

[quote="Brewmasterjoe"]For slightly to moderately warped shellac 78's, put them between 2 pieces of clean heavy glass and let them sit outside in the sun @ 80F or so. Check often (hourly?) to see how the warp is coming out by playing on a turntable, and repeat until you are happy with the results. I did that the other day for a Memphis Jug Band 78 that I had picked up with a bizarre multiple warp that couldn't be played with even 6g or tracking force. Now it tracks great at 2g.
Don't leave it out too long, however, or in too hot of environment, otherwise you could have issues with too much flattening and the fidelity will suffer.
Joe[/quote]
Thanks Joe for some useful info.

Harold

hey maybe set out some guitar picks for tooth picks
wang-dang-doodle all night long

I bought an album of 78's that looked great but I found out when I tried to play them that they were badly distorted, warped and somewhat tulip shaped.

One was a Leadbelly record that i wanted to record but it made the needle skip, actually it made the tone arm jump an inch in the air.

I though I could put a little pressure on the center to flatten it but it instantly broke in three places!

I was able to hold it together with tape and record it at 33& 1/3 rpm so it wouldn't bounce the tone arm, the clicks got removed with Sound forge and it sounds quite good.

I had to record that whole album at a slower speed.