[78-L] Cleaning bare aluminum discs?

[Glenn Longwell]

I recently came across 18 aluminum transcription discs of 1934 Jack Benny shows.  Unfortunately, they all have zinc oxide spots.  I've been wondering what to do with them so this thread is relevant but it would seem these may be a loss.  
Glenn

--- On Mon, 6/25/12, Robert J. Lang <bobhope at ieee.org> wrote:

From: Robert J. Lang <bobhope at ieee.org>
Subject: Re: [78-L] Cleaning bare aluminum discs?
To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
Date: Monday, June 25, 2012, 5:07 PM

Bryan,

Make sure that you don't use any type of cleaner that is strongly 
acidic or basic, since these will attack the aluminum.  The mild 
soapy solution sounds like a good idea.

One thing I've always wanted to try is to send an aluminum disc to a 
plating shop and have them treat it with a zincating process, 
followed by a very thin electroless nickel plate.  The zincating 
process removes the aluminum oxide and replaces it with a thin zinc 
coating that prevents further oxidation.  The electroless nickel 
process replaces the zinc with nickel, which has a low coefficient of 
friction.  That which would make the stylus slide easily over it's 
surface, possibly reducing the background noise.  I wouldn't try this 
on a good disc, but it would be an interesting experiment on a damged 
recording.

Bob L



>Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2012 17:01:24 -0400
>From: Bryan Wright <bryan at claxtonola.com >
>Subject: [78-L] Cleaning bare aluminum discs?
>To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
>Message-ID: <EFB8CCB5-0CFA-4915-ACEC-3D69EB96DA09 at claxtonola.com >
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
>
>Recently at an antiques store, I picked up some 10-inch bare aluminum
>discs, including one intriguingly labeled "Paul Whiteman and His
>Orchestra" and dated June 17, 1938. The records are filthy and have
>some matter in the grooves. Can anyone offer any tips for safely
>cleaning these things? I need a method strong enough to clean the gunk
>out of the grooves, but obviously I don't want to damage the records
>(which otherwise appear to be in decent shape).
>
>Thanks!
>Bryan W.
>

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