Early 78s are shellac with filler, later ones were celluloid, or even vinyl. Vinyl records are softer and will deform nicely with heat (as noted above).

Looks like a Falcon of some sort.:

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&safe=off&q=falcon%20dual%20oven

This makes me appreciate the wide world web.

I just put a stack of quarters on the tonearm. The more warped, the more weight. This damages the record too, slightly more than normal playing but less than heating.

Once you get the weight right, record the output on an analog FM tape recorder set at the highest possible speed. Play it back at the slowest possible speed into your digital recording tackle, using the highest possible sample rate (being aware of possibilities of aliasing of course).

You now have the best sound you’ll ever get off the record in hand ready for pop & hiss removal. Archive the disk in a neutral medium and work with the copy.

I’ve got over 25,000 records (well, records, reel-to-reel tapes, and just a few cylinders) and in the process of accumulating all that, I’ve managed to pick up quite a few 78s. I was really curious about those really old ones that are over a half-inch thick, so I singled out one that was in horrific, scratched condition with no cover/box and all screwed up in every way. Since it was totally worthless, I broke it just to see what was inside.

It think it was pressed sawdust. There was a seam around the edge, so I’m guessing that the bakelite (or whatever it was) was just pressed in sheets onto a sawdust disc and heat-sealed. I don’t know; that’s just a guess. But I was a little shocked to see that sawdust.

I said all that to say this – I can’t imagine that thing ever warping. There was just too much stable mass. Of course, I would hate to have to build shelves to hold a large collection of those things. I guess we had to sacrifice something to get records that didn’t weigh so much.

78′s were usually made of shellac, with assorted binders and filler. They’re not such a thermally pliable material as modern records – usually vinyl or thermoplastics. As a footnote, they often included an abrasive, designed to wear the needle, instead of the other way around (hence the cups of steel replacement needles handy at the ready)

I vote for the slow process of time+moderate pressure. Try to rush the pressure part, the record will likely crack.

What you want to do is get two sheets of heavy glass or plexiglass, place the LP on one, place the other on top and let sit in the sun for a half-hour or an hour, then bring inside and allow to cool (or in some cases try and bend it with your hands once it is hot enough to get a little soft). Alternately you can you can pour boiling water over it, and place between the pieces of glass, and allow to cool. In some cases you will STILL get the ripples across the grooves, so it’s hit-or-miss either way.

For some reason I got the idea to put one of our warped LPs on the turntable, in the sun, and let it spin for a while. Viola!! Don’t have any idea whether it would work on 78s though. :)

Re:@audiophiles..

“Sucks when someone picks out the obvious”

Whut? I couldn’t make head nor tail of any of that.

I suppose in the age of digital music record collecting is an even more rarefied hobby than it used to be.

http://www.elpj.com/

If he’s really serious about preserving and playing them, that is. It doesn’t depend on flatness.

I’m not sure you can do this with a 78. They were made from lacquer, not vinyl, which is much more finicky.

Even cooler if you don’t read the headline or accompanying text.

I just couldn’t do that to a record.

78s, like Edison cylinders, were a whole other kettle of fish, even in the 1960s. Much more…well, antique.

Even so, I seem to remember my first turntables and record players having a “78″ speed setting on them.

I don’t know whether your disc will float, if so this method assures “low” temperature in order not to damage the thin tracks, no solid support base and a truly horizontal surface.

Bye!

I’ll find you that record if you can get my comic series published…

Just find a local shop and go ask the shop owner. If they’re anything like my dad they enjoy the company :)

They have everything