New 'Vinyl Flat' flattener?

Bigrod62563,

Have you tired calling Vinyl Flat about this? I spoke with then when I had some questions about their products. They should be able to help.

One thing that is clear when using the oven is that you need to be certain that the temperature is accurate. Double check with your own thermometer instead of trusting the dial.

well i don`t have a thermometer so i`m assuming if it is not accurate it is probably higher. yes i spoke to vinyl flat. he said at 170 to be careful; to start at 10 and probably go for no more thasn 20 min. i put in aretha franklin on checker with a pinch warps for over 20 min and no affect at all. here`s my rub. everytime you see anybody here on the net talk about flattening records with any method,it always seems to be albums. and i can see that as albums are not raised in the center so the weight is on the whole record with direct contact and not just hovering over the middle of the record. the other thing is; vinyl flat`s sheet that tells you the heating and cooling times for the different labels and for usin in the oven gives the gram weight of the particular label. well,these gram weights are all for lps obviously no 45 would weigh 95 grams and up. even if a 45 was 2 0zs that would only be 56 grams. so if they experimented on 45s; where are the results for it?? i will try ther oven with some milder warps for however long. if i keep getting no difference,this item will be returned. has anyone here personally flattened out any 45s with more than a slight warp via any method? if in the oven,what was the exact particulars and results?

Bigrod,
From what I see you're trying to flatten 7" 45s with the vinyl flat, right? I don't know that they make a 7" groovy ring. If they do, I haven't seen it. If you're using the 12" ring on a 45 I'm not surprised you're befuddled because you've missed the point entirely somehow. You may as well be using two sheets of glass in the oven or whatever. That doesn't work at all, I've tried it. IMO the reason the Vinyl Flat DOES work is that the groovy rings contact the playing surface intimately. The outer lip of an LP is raised as is the label. This leaves plenty of play for the LP to stay warped or warp in different places between two sheets of glass or anything else in an oven. Contact the maker and ask if they can produce a ring for 7" 45s. I have used this device and it is the ONLY thing I've ever tried that actually does work. No affect on sonics that I can tell what so ever. IMO the heating times for the pouch are way on the conservative side and in no way would I ever try to flatten a 45 without a custom sized ring. This is not that hard to understand. Why has no one explained this to Bigrod yet?

Although I've noticed from my own, non-scientific tests that the Vinyl Flat works, it works like a charm. I appreciate all of you who go to the extremes in testing, but IMO, no need. I've had experiences in which, say, Janis Ian "Between the Lines" original pressing was wavy when I bought it used. I put it in the pouch for 4 hours, it came out basically the same, I put it in for 4.5 hours, still pretty much the same. This "original" lp must be of a different vinyl formulation. Just a note, the lp sounded great before and great after. I've had more positive results with the same weight vinyl in other trials. The main point here is, with the pouch, I think it's impossible to destroy the grooves. I've flattend at least 100 lps, on two, I've left them in 3 hours longer than usual, NO DAMAGE to the grooves. This is an extremely well thought out product and the most enjoyable product I've ever purchased in the pursuit of vinyl playback. My personal finding is for a regular weight lp, 4.5 hours, a 180gr. 4.45 hours. This can vary upward when the warp is more severe than usual.
Sonfjim: After reservations, I emailed John Martindale about the 45 issue, he said no problem. I subsequently tried one, first at 4 hours, then at 4.5 hours. NO DAMAGE.

Rarely has the Vinyl Flat not at least improved a warp for me. In many cases, it eliminates them. I have no experience with 45s but I would assume a properly sized groovy ring would optimize results.