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I recently purchased a hard to find (in the US at least) 12 inch 78 set of Wagner conducted by Otto Klemperer. Unfortunately I left them in my car and the sun heated the interior to the point that the records dished.

Is there any way to safely flatten the record without breaking it? The record still plays fine on my Webcor electric player.

My other option is to heat it up in the oven and finish the bowl making process. At least I'd have a popcorn bowl out of the deal!

If the record still plays fine, can a bit of warping be a big issue?

I believe there's a thread on this topic; but let me summarize....

You can place the warped disc under a sheet of plate glass, and leave it in the sun again: the heat will soften it again, and the weight of the glass will straighten it out...

Make sure the disc is clean, though; or any dust or debris might get pressed into the surface. You might still end up with some extra noise, though....

The only difference that I did was I placed the record on top of a piece of plate glass and placed it in the sun. After it flattened out like a pancake, I took the whole affair into the hose to let it cool. I have a feeling that this will not work on later vinyl records.

since in the uk it is nowhere near hot enough to do it in the sun i heat the 78 up with a hair dryer then put it between heavy items, i usually heat it up then put a stack of records on top and underneath it, it works for me

The teenage collector is right. In the UK we use hair dryers, followed by heavy bread board placed on top.

Bread board and hair dryer it is. If that doesn't do it, your all invited over for popcorn made from Otto Klemperer, Berlin Opera orchestra conductor bowls while we watch TV re-runs of his son, Werner, playing Colonel Klink, on Hogans Heroes. Sounds like a plan.

The key to success here is making absolutely sure you don't touch or try to move it before its cool.

You should be able to achieve more even and controllable heat by using your kitchen oven rather than a hair dryer which could scorch the surface. Also, a piece of new drywall would give you an almost perfectly flat surface and the soft paper cover will be gentle to the surface. A bread board, if it has any moisture (if it is wood, it probably does) could warp in the sun/oven (though if it is made of a glue up of narrow strips of wood, may be a little more stable)

Brad wrote:You should be able to achieve more even and controllable heat by using your kitchen oven rather than a hair dryer which could scorch the surface. Also, a piece of new drywall would give you an almost perfectly flat surface and the soft paper cover will be gentle to the surface. A bread board, if it has any moisture (if it is wood, it probably does) could warp in the sun/oven (though if it is made of a glue up of narrow strips of wood, may be a little more stable)

I've also used a kitchen oven for this purpose, which allows more temperature control and even heating. I used plate glass to assure a flat even surface that would remain perfectly flat after heating. Be very careful as to not overheat the record. It's probably inevitable that some low level distortion will be introduced, but for a badly warped record this method will correct the warp.