Vinyl Asylum

Welcome Licorice Pizza (LP) lovers! Setup guides and Vinyl FAQ.

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RE: Flattening on a budget and without excessive consumption

Posted by beach cruiser on May 15, 2025 at 01:42:45:
As most here must know, there are many vinyl flattening variations on the internet that use two panes of window glass and sunlight , I can't imagine why one would need tempered glass with such moderate temps. but I am hardly an expert, just read a lot.
one of the variations that appealed to me was to heat the oven to temp, turn it off, and insert the sandwich, then let everything cool. no chance of thermal damage.
in Van denHuls paper posted on the internet , he mentions using butcher paper between the glass and vinyl. the main thing I got from his paper was his absolute emphasis on reducing moving mass in the cantilever as the primary cartridge design goal. he also suggests automobile valve springs as diy isolation devices for a turntable platform. maybe someone could explain that to me, I would think valve springs are too stiff , but I don't know the frequencies they might effect
certainly if someone asked me to pick between me and Van DenHul for advice, I wouldn't pick me.
personally , the only warped record I ever flattened was by accident, " choice cuts" by the pure food and drug act, a pretty good album hippie days album. it was jammed into overly tight storage and ignored for years because of a ski jump warp on the first song. . when I decided to give it a spin, it had been perfectly flattened I knew the storage had grown a little tight over time , but didn't realize it had become industrial strength tight. .
I can see dropping a couple hundred dollars on a gizmo if you have a constant need. I never had enough records pass through my hands where it was even a problem. probably because record stores don't put warped records on the shelves , and I check everything anyway . I also cut open new records right away , so the tight shrink wrap that I prefer to leave on can't distort the surfaces over time.