The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello, I am a vegan and I don't like to keep leather in the house, so I was wondering if there was an easy alternative to the leather brake pads, especially since they're easy to replace and are usually pretty messed up after 100 years anyway.

Check out this thread where one option illustrated is felt.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=51210

AZ* wrote: Fri Dec 03, 2021 12:56 am Check out this thread where one option illustrated is felt.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=51210

This sounds like it would work perfectly, thank you! Cruelty-free record listening...

Are you playing shellac records?

JerryVan wrote: Fri Dec 03, 2021 8:25 am Are you playing shellac records?

Yes, I am aware shellac is an animal product Unfortunately there is no substitute for shellac records, and I wouldn't dare refinish my shellac finished machines.

you could also opt for original leather brake pads, softened up with one of those products people sell. That wouldn't be new production (and, arguably, wouldn't hurt any more animals) but I should think cotton or felt would really work well.

Another commonly recommended choice is a piece of an O-ring or a piece of sewing machine belt.

Here's an idea as far as felt goes. Good felt is an animal product: wool, or fur, get used to make the best quality felts.

A purely vegan outlook would find it difficult to accept a fur-felt product (even if the animals were removed as part of protecting nature--I saw a beaver-trapping operation once that ended up saving a 600-acre forest which they were in the process of flooding. The forest was sustainably grown & harvested pines, cultivated on disused farmland--and the beavers ended up flooding the land until some were trapped as humanely as possible. The furs ended up going to make Stetson hats.)

So the only way to use a fur-felt product & be vegan is to use secondhand fur. Which leaves you with wool. What I'd suggest on that is-- Telephone local animal rescue organizations, ones that work with livestock. Go get some wool if they have sheep or alpacas. Sheep need sheared every so often anyway--keeps them in good shape. Boil the wool for awhile to get the lanolin out, dry it, and work you a tuft of it that you can bind down with cotton thread into a hard piece a bit bigger than you need for the brake pad. To give it grip, melt beeswax and soak it in that. Reason I say beeswax is that there are some vegan folks who are OK with using bee products--and it might let you get in touch with your local beekeeper. Who is probably pretty cool.

Interesting bit of problem-solving you've got going here. Veganism isn't something I'm on board with but anybody who actually cares about consumption instead of just wasting everything is at least putting a little thought into it.
I'm a bit more interested in taking care of the environment than I was a few years ago and have got to the point where I want to minimize my use of plastics (which leaves me with a lot of wool & leather clothing.) I really don't think there's a safe way to recycle plastics.

So the OP wants to avoid animal products for his replacement brake material. I still suggest felt. Not premium beaver or wool felt. I have several beaver felt hats which I love, but I am not Vegan.

However, I have a family member who is Vegan, so I understand the issue and I am sensitive to it. There is plenty of cheap polyester felt at various craft stores. Since the OP is Vegan, I am sure he or she will perform the due diligence required. By the way, someone suggested sewing machine belt. The most commonly suggested sewing machine belt is for treadle sewing machines which is leather, not acceptable for a Vegan.

What about an eraser off a pencil?