Lp Gouge Repair

by **Sandbah 92** » 06 Jun 2011 22:29

One track on an otherwise near mint recording has a deep gouge about the size of the head of a common pin. I'm concerned about what it could potentially do to my stylus. Is there anything I can fill the gouge with? I know it will never be 100%, but I'd like the stylus to have more of a chance to glide over the spot. The most obvious remedy is just not play that track. Thanks for any help!

by **jake** » 06 Jun 2011 22:45

The best thing to do is take a single-edged razor blade and slowly and carefully cut a path through for the needle. Sometimes you can make the scratch a very slight one. It's best if you have a mounted (hands free) magnifier glass.

by **Whitneyville** » 06 Jun 2011 23:17

If you have a diabetic friend who does injections, get a 31 gauge syringe from them as a tool. I'm diabetic and use the pens with the even smaller 32 gauge pen needles, which work even better. I work under a 20X microscope, which is rather over-kill, but the principle is the same. You want to "ease" the transition into and out of the "crater". This is a delicate process to keep from making it worse. Other tools like the finest sewing needles you can find and X-acto knife blades (#11) may prove helpful. Sometimes a very effective techique is to use a DJ cart and stylus at 8-10 grams VTF (2 quarters taped to the headshell) and "scratch" back and forth just a millimeter over the defect.

by **classicstylus** » 07 Jun 2011 18:55

Faced with a repeating groove, I used a moistened bit of Magic Erasure to smooth out the offending patch of vinyl. I can report that this leaves a horrid and rough looking area but did stop the repetition. The LP played properly with only a dull couple of "thunks". The postage stamp sized rough area didn't sound, so I think that was a decent result. But don't hold me responsible, please, if this method doesn't work for you...

Michael.

by **Whitneyville** » 08 Jun 2011 07:40

Sand' I feel like an idiot! Head for a hobby shop and order some Milliput Micro-fine putty. It's used for sculpting and filling places on plastic and other models. It dries almost ceramic like, but it can be easily sculpted and tooled while moist. Take a needle and snip off the end of the eye with some wire cutters (use eye protection!) and the resulting "U" becomes your applicator. With your other instruments of destruction, remove any excess from the ajoining grooves and try to even out the "crater". After it's dry, you can still work on it with very sharp needles or syringes, and further smooth it. It will leave a tiny white speck on the LP, but it will be much easier on your stylus. A FAR more radical method is the "baking soda and super glue" method. It's 100% success or 100% failure, and I very rarely attempt it on models anymore, unless I have to have the ultimate in strength. You can remove Milliput with acetone, which due to it's hazards, I don't reccomend people using on LP's, but this is the exception to the rule.

by **Sandbah 92** » 08 Jun 2011 19:19

Many thanks, guys! I'm going to try the least invasive methods first and then go to the more surgical ones if I don't get good results. The only "tool" I've ever used on vinyl is a toothpick with which I've had great results, but this needs a lot more than that. On another site it was suggested I try a black wax pencil which the poster claimed he's used hundreds of times on lp's, so I'll go with that one first because it's the most gentle and forgiving of all the suggestions I've received. By the way, the lp in question is a double German pressing Spotlight On Donovan which I bought used. I did see the spot, but it looked like it was perhaps a gob of white paint which I could deal with. These old tri-focaled eyes just don't work as well as they used to! When I get a pencil and try iy, I'll let you know how it turns out.

by **Whitneyville** » 12 Jun 2011 10:18

Sand' the tri-focals are why I work under a 'scope nowdays, with LOTS of light. The wax pencil is an excellent idea because it can be removed easily. You can always work your way up the ladder of fillers. Did you know that you can harden toothpicks? Just put them on a baking sheet on foil or waxed paper in the oven at 350*F for about an hour. They'll turn quite dark, but by drying out the moisture, they'll be much harder and with a good pencil sharpener, you can put a near needle point on them. If you have an electric drill around, you can chuck them in it and with some 320 or 400 grit sandpaper, use the drill as a "lathe" and polish that point to a needle. I've done these things many times for model work. My dentist keeps all his dull burrs and his hygenists broken dental tools for me! The diamond burrs may not work on teeth, but they work fine on brass or plastic, and I reshape the dental tools to whatever I want. One man's trash...

by **Sandbah 92** » 12 Jun 2011 18:16

Whitneyville, thanks for all that. I also build models - plastic hot rods/custom cars and small wooden sailboats > never occurred to me to ask my dentist for his unwanted dental tools to use in building > I can see how they would be useful in building. I still haven't gotten to a store that sells wax pencils > all I want to do is soften the crunch of the stylus hitting that mini crater. I know I'm always going to have noise in that spot.

by **Whitneyville** » 13 Jun 2011 06:14

I'm an N-scale model train guy, but I'm getting back into plastic 1/48th WWI aircraft, since the kits have gotten so very nice lately, and I "store sit" a hobby shop part-time (I'm disabled).

by **Sandbah 92** » 13 Jun 2011 21:18

N scale trains was what I had planned on when I retired - haven't given up on that thought yet > got waylaid by model cars which is what I built as a kid > I find myself going back to the things I enjoyed but didn't have time for when I was working > used to build model planes as well. Should also tell you that I've been reading your posts for years both as a long time lurker and now as a member. I've learned a lot from you and a few other regulars, and I much appreciate that! Please keep the posts coming! Wish you the best! Regards, Sandbah 92.