[78-L] Wood Filler In A Cracked 78?

[jeffrey smedbron]

I don't know about the putty method but I have good luck closing spread noisy cracks on rare records by heating the record to warp flattening temperature and quickly placing it on glass plate then push down firmly squeezing the crack together while the record cools. Then I drill and chamfer a small hole at the start on the blank record edge space and another at the end of the crack in the trail off space. I fill each hole with a dab of epoxy so it is sort of like a plastic rivet. It works well, none have come apart and crack is usually inaudible or very nearly so.

Jeff S     



----- Original Message ----
From: Malcolm - Venerable Music <malcolm at venerablemusic.com>
To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
Sent: Sat, April 10, 2010 8:22:31 AM
Subject: [78-L] Wood Filler In A Cracked 78?

Hey Everyone - Yesterday I was lucky enough to junk a copy of a rare hillbilly record, Winona Rag by the Ray Brothers on Bluebird-5789.
Unfortunately there is a crack to the label which you can see light through! It was only $1 and a rare enough record that I'm highly unlikely to see another copy anytime soon so I bought it anyway.

In the past, I have seen some records that were in similar condition repaired very well, namely by the late collector Robert Nobley. I never got the chance to talk to him about his method in person, but a friend explained his method to me as it was explained to him. Apparently he would some sort of wood filler to the crack that was soft when applied. He would then play the sides on a Victrola so the steel needle would remove the extra filler in the direction of the grooves. After this, he would let the filler harden and sand the remaining filler to be even with the grooves. The result on the records I've heard was great, turning a heavy thump to a light tick.

Has anyone else ever used a similar method or can recommend the correct type of wood filler to use? I have a similarly cracked Jimmie Rodgers record that I've been holding on to just for practice. But now I have a record that I really don't want to make worse than it is!

Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Malcolm

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