Need some advice on flatening wrapped records.


Hey all,

I remember reading something a while back about someone who had 2 record cover sized panes of glass or mirrors or something similar that he placed a warped record between.

He then put the vinyl sandwich in the oven at a certain temperature for a certain length of time and out popped a
flat, tasty disc waiting to be enjoyed.

I'll be damned if I'm going to pay some ridiculous price for some LP flattening machine, so I'd be interested in trying this out as it seems like it would work. The only problem is I don't know for how long to stick it in the oven for or at what temp. I would imagine that it would be at one of the ovens lower settings, otherwise I'd have melted Mozart all over the place!

I was going to go to a glass shop and have them make me two panes of glass that would be heavy enough to keep the LP flat but before I did I wanted to know if any of you have done this type of thing before and how to do it. Of course, I would test it out on a record I wasn't to concerned about before I did it on anything of value to me.

Thanks.
128x128chris_383
I have a VPI Scoutmaster with the outer ring clamp...works so well, that I don't care if a record is warped at all
I agree with Herman. I have been using this method for years. If you don't want to use the oven, a hair dryer as suggested or a heat lamp will work
The link is good. Try 14x14 1/4 inch tempered glass and a clean record. Heat the oven to just warm (150F or so) and put in the sandwich. Turn off the oven and let it cool.

You can correct for slight warps of the slowly undulating kind but very sharp bumps don't do so well. Even if they flatten out the grooves are distorted.

For the price of the glass it is worth experimenting with.