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What you will need:
A) 1 Wooden Cutting/Chopping Board
B) 2 Turntable Platters Removed From The Turntable. (This probably could be substituted for something of similar weight and size.)
C) Something to really clean your warped records, your platters, and your cutting board with. Windex, GruvGlide, Soap & Water etc...
D) A Conventional Oven. (Told you it might sound extreme.)
Clean off everything. Clean your platters' surfaces, the cutting board, and the vynil. We will be heating this up at low temperatures, but we still don't want anything that may melt and adhere onto the wax, or dust or anything. If you don't have proper things to wash your wax off you may use warm water and soap. It works fine. Pat dry with a towel, maybe fold it up inside it, and blow dry. Make sure this record is dry.
Place 1of the platters face up on the cutting board. Next place the warped vinyl with the most convexed side upwards. Try to line up the spindle holes the best that you can. Then place the other platter face down on top of the record - lining up the holes. It should appear like this: )|(
Note: If you are using Technics turntables, you may wish to remove the magnets from the platters. I happen to have 2 pairs of platters, one pair came from my old set of stantons and this is what i'm using.
The cool thing is that the platters are outter beveled at the edges. Your wax will sit with its lead-in's on it instead of the grooves. This will also help prevent scratching your record when you do this. It also prevents any unnecesary metal touching the grooves. The platters have blacking on them so that will absorb much of the heat, you don't have to worry about the metal frying your record. It's all really safe trust me.
Set your oven to Bake @ 220 Degrees. Make sure the rack is in the middle. If you are using an oven with analog controls you may wish to set this to 210 just to be safe incase your oven gets hotter than it says on the dial.
(I experimented with temperatures from 170-200 and still didn't get the vinyl to break its consistancy and remold... sure it got floppy but nothing happend. It just popped back the way it was. So try to shoot for 210-220)
You want 220 degress because this is the breaking temperature that the wax is going to become plyable to the point where it will actually sit in the position it forms too. It's also a very low temperature and you won't have to worry about fucking up your grooves.
Next set the cutting board, platters, and record inside the oven. I preffer to do this while it's preheating, I think heating up the wax gradually is a good thing. You're gonna wanna leave this in there for about 15 -17 minutes.
After 15-17 minutes on bake @ 220 degrees, shut the oven off, and open the door. Let the wax cool inside the oven slowly. After another 10 or 15 minutes or so, carefully take the cutting board out of the oven and set it some where to cool. The cooling method here is key. Really, you need to let it slowly cool while between the platters so that it takes it's new straight shape. It molds to conform in the oven, now it has to sit. Once it is cool and the platters are only slightly warm to the touch it's safe to remove the record.
Next, examine the record. It should be straight as an arrow with all groves intact. Congratulations, you now don't have to replace that peice of wax.
Next Try playing the record. Surprising how it isn't distorted at all, and there's no drop in audio quality? Amazing!
Note: Some warps, especially small "finger-sized" ones (the ones that skip and make a record unplayable) might require you to attempt this again. You may need to do it a little longer, or increase the temp. I wouldn't recommend temp increase for a prolonged amount of time and surely not over 225 degrees. --------------------------------------------------------------
My Ish....
http://www.myspace.com/jaypeah
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