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I am including some video of making cylinder records. I have adapted Chuck Richard's methods of making cyinders using the long process, I am no longer interested in quantity, but quality. I have gone back to using my old laboratory warmer. Still upgrading equipment, thermometers, glassware and process to make higher quality blanks.https://youtu.be/i6e1KCRjs-M
https://youtu.be/je3sVx-MFkc (Test of the Edison studio recorder with glass .008 diaphragm.) https://youtu.be/BIf608Jjdwk
Casting a brown wax cylinder.
https://youtu.be/6B5U3GUNBjw The old method of moulding, however you can see the records trimmed and shaved. How long does it take? It takes about an hour to measure the components first. Making hydrated alumina takes two days, one day to do the initial filtering, and then it sets and decants, where it is filtered again. I use 3 filters each time and it gets filtered total using 15 coffee filters total. The wax takes two and one half hours to finish, and then sits a day and is annealed, sits another day heated and cooled. The wax makes one and a half cylinders, so I usually make two batches of hydrated alumina when I make them. Make two batches and set one aside, make another batch. I am also now having the cylinder blank and record making as more of a hobby, I do not accept orders, I put what I want to sell and sell on a first come first serve basis. I record the music I want to record, and sell what I feel. I work 48 hours a week at a factory, so I set to make cylinders from 3-6pm 3 days a week.

Very pretty results, Shawn! Upon seeing your latest video, it is easy to see why making new wax is limited to a few brave souls. Thanks for giving us a glimpse into the long process. (By the way - nice choice of music.)

Regards,
Martin

Shawn,

Very interesting videos! Is that small mask really enough for your safety?

I had a canister type mask, but it is kind of not fun to wear for hours. The worst part is making hydrated alumina, which I start the reaction and leave the area for an hour, until it finishes. It is putting up caustic soda, and hydrogen gas in the air.

Shawn, your choice of background music for this
waxmaking video is, in my opinion, most appropriate!

There are many reasons that this tune is just about
the exactly perfect background music for a video
showing a live test of this particular method of
making brown wax.

I am very glad that you've decided to at least give
this method a try. It's a rather slow and tedious
method, yes it is. As far as number of blanks produced
in a given amount of time, the yield is definitely low.

However, the reject rate can be brought very near to zero,
which makes the percent of blanks which pass all tests
approach very nearly 100%.

One other fun thing about this method is that once
one gets familiar with it, it will follow the
batch schedule times and temperatures nearly by itself,
with very little guidance.

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =8&t=13879
I decided to add this link to show a bit more about
this specific method. Shawn is doing some very valuable
work! He is continuing the experiments based upon
this method. When it comes to making brown wax
and casting it into cylinder blanks, there are so
many tests and experiments yet to be done, that many
people could work on it for their whole lives and
that would barely scratch the surface of all the
possibilities.

I myself have pretty much settled on this method
as the standard one. Branch experiments take a lot
of time, and that is time away from making blanks.

So, the more people who jump in and do the tests
and the experiments, the better will be the
cumulative knowledge for the future. Back in the
old days, the making of these records was shrouded
in secrecy. That is changing now though.

Now we have people who are working independently but
sharing their findings.

Here is the link to the standard form for this method
of mine which Shawn is now testing:
http://www.richardslaboratories.com/ind ... ndard-form

Really interesting Shawn. You must have great patience!

Clay

Bump. This is an important topic.

I want to tell you guys. Mr. Richards batch sheet method does work. Some little changes may be made for differences in your materials, and equipment, however it should be very close. For instance When I make a duplicate batch, I have to add 15ml more water to make the concentration of my hydrated aluminum the same, because I use a different brand of sodium hydroxide than Mr. Richards uses. I also found the batch sheet still works with my restored electric laboratory warmer,although it only gets up to 260C, but still it keeps on schedule. Also your mold preheat might be different, depending on the thickness and kinds of metals your mold is made of. Mr. Richards for instance uses a mostly Aluminum mold with a steel sleeve, and I use an all steel mould, he uses a 450F (232 C) preheat, while with my mould works better with a 400 preheat, with a 232C wax temperature. I also want to say that the method Mr. Richards developed is far superior to the commercial methods used to make brown wax blanks in the 1890's and I would beg to say our United states blanks are very fine blanks indeed, the right hardness, low surface noise, and precise fit on the phonograph, as well as more recording time, as most blanks are 4.50-4.80 inches long.