Record Manufacturing - what are they doing here?

[2Bdecided]

Two prints listed on eBay UK, but what are the people in them actually doing to the records, and why?

Playing the same record four times at once?
http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages/sho ... 0&format=0

Polishing piles of records?
http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages/sho ... 0&format=0

from here...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/THE-GRAMOPHON ... 1012553598

Cheers,
David.

[Orchorsol]

I suspect both are "quality control" stages.

The first looks like a wear resistance test, perhaps routine for test pressings from each batch of mixed shellac compound before they were sent to the pressing shop (or e.g. testing of alternative formulations in development). Four arms would reduce the number of play cycles by that factor. I can't think of any other reason other than for a primitive analogue echo effect - hmm, is that Delia Derbyshire in a past life?!

The second may be some other routine visual inspection (too few discs are in evidence for it to be a sorting operation, I think).

[Wolfe]

Yep, QC / pressing inspection. It wouldn't be that they would literally play every disc that came off of the presses, but rather, random samples.

Here are some nice ladies in the EMI plant in Hayes, apparently packaging Beatles records - from all the stacks of discs and empty jackets in the foreground.

Next time you play your original Parlophone pressing of Rubber Soul you can think of all the tender gloved hands that record passed through before it got to your turntable the way it did.

[Lenoirstreetguy]

Orchorsol, you're quite correct: I've seen this photo reproduced before and it was identified as the wear test .

Jim