For my Hit of the Weeks, I use a solid machined, round steel platen, that's about 3/4" thick, drilled to fit easily over the spindle. The outside diameter is about the same as the label diameter. This works nicely and no chance of it popping off during playing the more stubbornly curved discs. Andy Baron On Feb 26, 2007, at 12:04 PM, Robert Wright wrote: > Here's a question for the group: I just received a pretty large > group of Durium Hit of the Week records, the majority of which are > an easy 9 out of 10 condition (I'm not sure they weren't store > stock, actually), and 7 of them are the rather desirable 'long > play' versions with more than 5 full minutes recording time, often > divvied up between two songs. They sound GREAT. I'd put the > fidelity of these records up against anything released in the first > electrical recording era, including Viva-Tonals, late Z-shellac VE > discs, radio transcriptions, pretty much anything up to about > 1950. When you mono the signal from a modern turntable, the > cardboard rumble (common to picture discs as well) goes away pretty > much completely. I don't see why more people aren't more > passionate about these great records, even if the artists (Phil > Spitalny, Rudy Vallee, Sam Lanin, et. al.) aren't exactly > trailblazers, as they're fabulous examples of what recording > technology was capable of in the 30's, and the arrangements are > generally very difficult, musically speaking, and quite engaging to > listen to. > > Anyway, the problem with them is that they have curved. I'm not > talking the typical HOTW 120 degree curve (if 180 degrees is > 'flat'), I mean these things are almost cylinders. And they're in > otherwise pristine condition. It's nearly impossible to get them on > the turntable and even then, only the inside half is playable (and > I have a variety of transcription turntables for archiving and > audio restoration, so it's not a "put a nickel on the headshell" > kinda problem). > > So my question is this: does anyone know of a safe, reliable way > to get these to flatten out? I've considered steam and weight, but > the heat might melt the thin (I assume) cellulose layer and reduce > the treble extension in the recordings, and I absolutely do not > want that to happen (the top end is a big part of the appeal of > these discs for me). The guy I bought them from said they'd been > stored for years pressed flat between 12" 78's but nothing seems to > have helped. Any ideas? > > > Thanks in advance, > Robert > _______________________________________________ > Phono-L mailing list > http://phono-l.oldcrank.org