Re: 78 record wear
Posted: Sat May 10, 2025 10:48 am
A very interesting thread.
If I am not mistaken, no one has yet mentioned lubricants, other than Teflon.
Carnauba palm wax was sold in crayon form by EMG as a record dressing.
Ref:
https://www.gramophonemuseum.com/emg-accessories.html
Davey Dressing made from Carnauba wax--link to picture:
https://www.gramophonemuseum.com/images ... sing-2.jpg
I have used carnuaba paste wax on badly worn/damaged old records that present a lot of drag. I have also used it on electrically recorded records that I have glued back together and are now restricted to play on acoustic machines. One of my favourite Beniamino Gigli records, a 12" HMV release, spontaneously cracked one day just sitting on the platter of a modern turntable. I glued it back together (thanks again, Curt). It now gets played mostly on my Aeolian Vocalion machine, simply because of convenience. I treated the disk with the carnauba paste wax, applying it fairly liberally, wiping it into the grooves with a soft cloth, and then letting it sit for a few hours. I then played the record with a number of different needles, fibre and steel, until the needles stopped pulling wax up out of the grooves. Then I let it sit again for a few days to harden. The Gigli recording gets a lot of play with steel needles now, being one of my hot favourites, and it does not seem to have suffered much if any deterioration in sound, nothing revealed even on my HMV 102c with its better reproducer. I periodically update the wax. Waxed records to not go near my modern electrical turntables.
Curt here recommends WD40 spray.
Orchosol sells ibota wax on his Burmese Colour Needles website.
If I am not mistaken, no one has yet mentioned lubricants, other than Teflon.
Carnauba palm wax was sold in crayon form by EMG as a record dressing.
Ref:
https://www.gramophonemuseum.com/emg-accessories.html
Davey Dressing made from Carnauba wax--link to picture:
https://www.gramophonemuseum.com/images ... sing-2.jpg
I have used carnuaba paste wax on badly worn/damaged old records that present a lot of drag. I have also used it on electrically recorded records that I have glued back together and are now restricted to play on acoustic machines. One of my favourite Beniamino Gigli records, a 12" HMV release, spontaneously cracked one day just sitting on the platter of a modern turntable. I glued it back together (thanks again, Curt). It now gets played mostly on my Aeolian Vocalion machine, simply because of convenience. I treated the disk with the carnauba paste wax, applying it fairly liberally, wiping it into the grooves with a soft cloth, and then letting it sit for a few hours. I then played the record with a number of different needles, fibre and steel, until the needles stopped pulling wax up out of the grooves. Then I let it sit again for a few days to harden. The Gigli recording gets a lot of play with steel needles now, being one of my hot favourites, and it does not seem to have suffered much if any deterioration in sound, nothing revealed even on my HMV 102c with its better reproducer. I periodically update the wax. Waxed records to not go near my modern electrical turntables.
Curt here recommends WD40 spray.
Orchosol sells ibota wax on his Burmese Colour Needles website.