Is there any real way to flatten vinyl records?

So having returned from the bargain record store I came home with several records that have minor to severe warps. And actually a Metallica Garage Inc 45 set I got, the last two lp's are warped, but thankfully done effect the sound quality.

One thing I've tried is putting a warped record between two pieces of glass and baking it in the oven at 200 for 2-3 minutes, and letting it cool with a heavy object on the glass until room temp. The record got stuck about 10 seconds into the song before any baking, after 2 minutes it got stuck maybe 13 seconds in. After baking for 3 minutes it got stuck 2 seconds in lol.

So that method is obviously BS. A friend recommended putting some heavy books on the record for a couple of months.

Anyone ever gotten a warp out of a record?

 

Check here:
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/vinyl-flat-groovy-pouch.300776/

 

See davidshirt's post above and link to VinylFlat. I have one and it works wonders on 80-85% of LPs. Sometimes you have to go through several days of heat-cool cycles, and/or use longer cycles, but it's saved a bunch of LPs that were unplayable/unlistenable. Worth every penny.

 

Yeah I've heard about vinyl flat, I was just hoping to avoid spending that kind of money, and I hear many mixed results with it. Might well be worth it as I'm turning up others with warps, most don't effect play, but still.

 

I'm running the record-between-glass-in-the-sun test today. Got a badly warped Jack Johnson LP. I've got nothing to lose. Here is my materials and controls.

Outdoor temperature: 7o degrees fahrenheit
Humidity 53%
Wind: 19 mph
Precipitation: 0%

(what the hell am I doing inside on a forum?)

Time 12:00 noon.

120gm vinyl.

Pressed between two 1/2" sheets of black opaque glass 13" square. Heavy stuff that 1/2" glass. Came from two end tables. This will be interesting as I think this is a heavier glass than most use. Placed in direct sunlight. I'm on my way out to buy a thermometer to see what temp the glass reaches. Will weigh the glass.

Flipped over "sandwich" at .5 hour mark. Top plate already warm/hot to touch. Bottom plate cool. I ran out of time and couldn't buy a therometer. I would say top heated sheet of glass reached around 105-108 degrees? Guessing by touch. I can keep my hand on the plate indefinitely without withdrawing, but it does indeed feel quite warm. Amazing in such a short time. Where's my thermometer app?

Baking time: 1 Hour.
Cooling time: 4 hours at room temp.

Results below.

When I when to retrive the glass I believe the gap between the glass plates has leveled. I foolishly didn't take a good close up of before, only a mediocre one.


AFTER looks quite good.



I did take this angle "before."


Now wait four hours. Cooling seems important from what I've read.

 

Oh, yes, the victim. It'a a nice record.


Multiple direction warps, but no ripples-- which is good.

One of the pieces of glass (washed in soap and water and swabbed with70% isopropol alcohol) had a scratch that you couldn't feel on the surface but could possibly serve as a channel for softened vinyl. I'll see if it leaves an indent.

I noticed the heavy glass makes you feel reassured about moving it around. That sandwich is so heavy it doesn't shift. Industrial.

If there's no effect, I'll do it for two hours tomorrow.

 

Just wanted to say thanks for posting your experiment. I'm watching

 

I tried the glass sandwich method on an album, and I did have success with it. I had a white vinyl copy of a Moby album that had a horrible spot which would skip. I picked up two replacement panes of glass from home depot, fairly thin, but still solid and put them in my oven on low ( the lowest it would go ) for at first 15 minutes ( no effect ) and then for 30. After 30 minutes it was flat enough to play without skipping. If you try this method, do it on something disposable before something you treasure. The only reason I did it was because I couldn't find a replacement copy.

 

Wow. I just put my hand on the block 45 minutes after bringing inside. It's completely evenly warm. Very balanced temperature across the whole block and retaining heat. Nice and toasty. Weird.

 

Looking forward to the results.

 

I've had some success with two pieces of heavy plate glass (13" square) and an oven, set at a very low temperature. It's been a while since I did it, though. You want to be very careful with the oven temp, of course -- start low and increase very gradually if you're not getting results. You want an oven thermometer that reads accurately at low temps. And leave a lot of time to cool down. Thicker vinyl is much harder.

 

Yes After cooling, no visible change to the vinyl. Very low heat ineffective pics later

 

The Vinyl Flat is not expensive as these devises go. The Furtech was the only one before the Vinyl Flat and it goes for around $3,800 as I recall. I have the Vinyl Flat and it is very effective in my experience. Kind of a mixed bag on vintage pressings but on modern heavy vinyl reissues or new releases my success rate is in the high 90's, conservatively. If you're buying a lot of new vinyl as it's released this is a no brainer IMO. Every time I start reading another thread about returning dish warped vinyl I kind of bang my head against the wall. I'm frankly getting a bit tired of recommending this thing. People just don't listen.

 

That's not the issue. Most people aren't going to spend that much money on it, that's the issue. You're talking about 3-4 months of mortgage in an average house, 4-6 months of rent in an apartment, a very decent used car... to flatten LP's that shouldn't be warped brand new out of the package in the first place. Instead of holding pressing plants and labels accountable for their product by returning/exchanging we're supposed to spend thousands to fix it for them?

 

You do realize the Vinyl Flat doesn't cost $3,800 right? I wouldn't buy that either. Go to the website. As memory serves, it about $200 with the pouch. Trust me, it works infinitely better than a couple granite tiles in the sun. If you spend $6.00 shipping or so every time you return a warped record, it won't take long for it to pay for itself. Not to mention, I've used it flatten Classic Recocords pressings that currently go for hundreds to thousands of dollars. No brainer, total no brainer.

 

Vinyl Flat is a couple hundred

 

That record still looks awful IMO. Please try a Vinyl Flat and get back to me.

 

I did not realize, I was only aware of the multi thousand dollar devices. $200 is a much smaller pill to swallow, I'll check it out thanks!

 

I really recommend you do at least visit the website. This should be standard equipment for anyone who buys much vinyl. Do not skip the pouch to save money. IMO temperature control is part of the key. The other is the Groovy rings which allow pressure to only be applied to the playing surface and are not impaired by the label and raised outer ring area.

No malice intended on any of my posts. I honestly just get so tired of recommending this thing and then reading another 200+ page thread of people complaining about warped vinyl. Nonfill and noisy Vinyl are a big problem. Warping can usually be easily, and cheaply, fixed.

 

I get what you're saying, really, and I will look into it. Probably even get one if I find more people talking about how well it works for the price. Here's my thing though, if we all did this they would stop giving **** about the LP's that go on the shelves completely. The only way to hold them accountable, for what I read is not enough cooling time during a certain part of the process, is to send it back to them saying "This is unacceptable.". What are your thoughts?

 

Every new record I buy down here is warped, EVERY one! Vinyl flat and groovy pouch pays for itself many times over!

 

This is what worked for me. I received a record over the summer that sat in the back of a post office truck with a heavy package sitting on it for two days when the daytime temps hit 95°. I opened the package and the record had a 3/8" warp that would not play on my turntable. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I took two pieces of 15" x 15" x 1/4" thick glass and placed the record between the pieces of glass. I clamped the plates of glass with four 1-inch binder clips. I preheated my oven to 150°F. I then placed the glass plate assembly in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. I then turned the oven off and let the oven cool to room temperature with the oven door closed (about an hour and a half). I removed the record and placed it on my turntable. The record was perfectly flat and played without skips or distortion.

 

If the vinyl is thin, a reflex clamp will work. Otherwise always inspect the goods when buying used...or buy from a vendor you can return bad records. Amazon takes everything back...

 

You didn't ask me, but I'll give you my thoughts. Get a viny flat and pouch along with a plug in timer. 1000x easier than all this nonsense

 

Agreed. I am not interested in holding a candle for record consumers thats for sure, just flat records. Vinyl flat takes me there.