[78-L] Glass Records

[Doug Pomeroy]

David,

I guess it's my brain that's migrated!

Doug

============================

Message: 22
Date: Tue, 18 May 2010 11:06:37 -0400
From: David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca>
Subject: Re: [78-L] Glass Records
To: <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Message-ID: <SNT131-w16E897D2A066B18CDFC2BFBDE10 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"


I've never had one spontaneously self-destruct but laws a' mercy they  
can't take much, and they were known to be fragile even when brand  
new. I broke one when I was 3.

This thread seems to have migrated..it started over on ARSClist.

dl


> To: 78-L at 78online.com
> From: audiofixer at verizon.net
> Date: Tue, 18 May 2010 10:26:57 -0400
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Glass Records
>
> The glass base is quite thin, and a sudden change in temperature
> will cause the glass to expand or contract enough to shatter it.
> I learned this the hard way. Even the warmth of one's hands
> may cause this when holding a cold disc! And any fluids used
> to clean and rinse the disc should be at room temperature!
>
> Doug
>
>
>> Date: Mon, 17 May 2010 16:49:39 -0700
>> From: "Kevin P. Mostyn" <lists at MOSTYN.COM>
>> Subject: Re: Glass Records
>>
>> I have handled a few thousand glass-base 16" discs in my life.
>> Currently,
>> there are about a thousand of these in my garage.
>>
>> They are extremely fragile. I have seen them break merely by being
>> picked up
>> carefully. Once when doing research in the bowels of the LOC, a disc
>> shattered in the hands of the person assisting me. He was very
>> experienced
>> with such discs (the eponymous Jim Smart), he did everything
>> correctly, but
>> it shattered nonetheless.
>>
>> My advice is to treat them as if they were explosive. Carry only
>> one at a
>> time. Try to carry it on a flat sacrificial aluminum base 16" disc.
>> Never
>> leave it unsupported. Avoid any situation where it might flex,
>> because it
>> doesn't want to flex; it wants to break. If moving a box of them,
>> make sure
>> that the box is reasonably rigid and that the contents are
>> protected from
>> external forces and that the contents cannot flex.
>>
>> Although glass has a smoother surface than metal, World War II was  
>> the
>> reason for its widespread use. Aluminum was declared a war priority
>> item and
>> was unobtainable for civilian use. In addition, there were large
>> "drives" to
>> solicit donations of aluminum from the public. Vast numbers of
>> aluminum 16"
>> disks were donated to these drives (as well as pots and pans), thus
>> destroying a large part of our audio legacy. Then there were
>> services that
>> would recoat used aluminum discs with fresh lacquer for reuse, again
>> destroying more of our audio history. It's a miracle that any
>> survived; it
>> also explains why so little of pre-war transcriptions exist. The
>> majority of
>> 16" lacquers that I have seen are from 1940 though the mid-1950s.
>> The ones
>> from 1934 through 1939 are relatively scarce. Unfortunately, none
>> of "us"
>> were around and in a position to do anything about it back then!
>> Libraries
>> didn't archive such things.
>>
>> Lacquer transcriptions were made for various purposes, such as
>> syndication,
>> delayed broadcast, verification of commercials that were broadcast,
>> etc. In
>> addition, there was a law in America that any shortwave broadcast  
>> from
>> America had to be recorded. Millions were made over the years, but
>> sadly,
>> history has not treated them well. Those that survive are slowly
>> being eaten
>> by palmitic acid. It's a lugubrious tale.
>>
>> --Kevin Mostyn

Doug Pomeroy
POMEROY AUDIO
Audio Restoration & Mastering Services
Transfers of metal masters, lacquers,
shellac and vinyl discs & tapes.
193 Baltic St
Brooklyn, NY 11201-6173
(718) 855-2650
audiofixer at verizon.net