The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hi all,

I have a few warped Blue Amberols, i.e, with at last one end more ovoid that round. Is there a safe way to fix them?

Clay

There is no cure, only a fix, which is reaming. Reaming removes enough plaster to round out the interior of the cylinder so it will fit the mandrel. After reaming, the cylinder will go on the mandrel and play but it will still be out of round.
You need a specially made reamer that matches the taper of the mandrel. Check with some of the parts suppliers - Ron Sitko, George V., etc. They should have what you are looking for. I have also seen them on Ebay.

Jim

If you try to fix them with heat, be very careful because Blue Amberols are very flammable. Jerry

phonojim wrote:There is no cure, only a fix, which is reaming. Reaming removes enough plaster to round out the interior of the cylinder so it will fit the mandrel. After reaming, the cylinder will go on the mandrel and play but it will still be out of round.
You need a specially made reamer that matches the taper of the mandrel. Check with some of the parts suppliers - Ron Sitko, George V., etc. They should have what you are looking for. I have also seen them on Ebay.

Jim

Thanks Jim, but I have a good reamer. The issue is not fitting on the mandrel, it is the sound distortion that comes from a cylinder being significantly out of round.

Clay

I've used the following technique on a couple of ovoid blue amberols and had pretty good success with it. First, be ready to sacrifice the record if your efforts fail. I didn't have anything to lose on the ones I tried to "round out", so it was worth a go. I'd advise trying this method first on a record that you don't value much so that you can get the hang of it. Wet the plaster inside the record - you need to get it pretty wet to soften it. Steaming the plaster might be an easier way to get it wet. You'll probably have to let it "soak" a while (not literally in a bath of water, but with considerable wetness on it) before the plaster begins to show signs of softening. Then, when you sense that the plaster is yielding to finger pressure on the record, force the record onto a spare mandrel - use a spare mandrel that you can afford to booger up if it comes to that. Force the record on pretty tightly until it assumes the desired circular shape of the mandrel. Squeezing the record to force it "round" as you put it on the mandrel helps. Then, let the record dry for a day or so. The exterior celluloid will prevent the plaster from drying very fast, so this drying will take a while. Then take the record off the mandrel and inspect it. This first removal may be difficult as the majority of the "ovoidness" will get released during this first fitting. If the record still needs more correction, check the plaster and add wetness if necessary, then force the record back on the mandrel. It usually takes only two or three tries to get the record pretty well rounded out again. After the shape is satisfactorily corrected, let the record dry for a couple of days off the mandrel. You probably won't get it perfectly round, but it should be way better than it was, will fit the mandrel properly, and will sound much better.

Clay, thanks for asking about this. I'll certainly try Greg's method on a couple of my out of round BA's. I always assumed they were hopeless.

Greg, thanks much! I will give this a try.

Clay