Best commercial press for flattening warped LP's

I place the LP between two sheets of newspaper, and then drive my car back and forth over it a few times. Then I drive down to the music store and buy a CD.

Seriously, I never had any success. However I did end up with a turntable/arm Sony PS-X800, with "biotracer" (servo controlled) linear tracking arm, and it tracks severely warped LP's without difficulty.

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Dickson,
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Thanks for sharing your experience. What is the name of the Brand and Model of your LP press ?
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I have one of these Record Flatteners which I bought in Japan on one of my trips there. It is the same as tyhge model as sold by Air Tight in the US.

I can tell you that it works beautifully. In order top flatten a record you need controlled and even heating which is exactly what this provides. I give this machine two thumbs up. There were some that mentioned degradation of the sound when the record was flattened but I have not experienced this.

You can find a good deal of info, including some from people who have actually tried various techniques, at Audio Asylum. Record dewarping is a very tricky business and one is better off trying things out on junk records to start with.

If I had any warped treasures, I would join a local audio club, then propose we undertake a fundraising campaign for a Record Flatter.

I have heard that two panes of glass sandwhiching the record will work if used in direct sunlight during the summer months.

They said (heat depending of course) it will take 15-60 seconds.

They also said give the record ample time to cool before removing as not to bend it.

Cheers

A dry press won't work - the vinyl has far too much 'memory' and will go back to orignal shape as soon as the record is removed from press. I tried !
I also tried with two panes of glass sandwiching the LP and running under very hot water from tap - not hot enough.
I have not yet tried the oven yet with the glass sandwich as suggested in an LP forum but this will need experimentation not to de-form the vinyl too much....

Why not look at a used dry mount press for flatting prints. It would be considerably less expensive. I haven't tried it myself but it's worth looking into.

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Tobias,
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Thanks for the quick response and help. Sorry not to have caught this sooner. I am looking into possibly getting one of these machines. If I do get it, I will post a short review.
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Rgds, Larry
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The very best? It's said to be the Air Tight Record Flatter. Made in Japan, and has to be ordered from there at a very cool $1,700.00. Nevertheless it is said to work, and it is the only such device I know of which has that reputation. I know one person who has one, and he says it works.