Jim Cartwright "jimcip at earthlink.net" <jimcip at earthlink.net> said...
> I have heard that acetate instaneous recording discs may be cleaned by > coating them with rubber cement & then peeling it off - the dirt, etc. is > supposed to come off with the rubber cement layer. I have never tried > this. You should NOT use it if the actetate is separated from the glass > or aluminum base, cracked or otherwise damaged. They should be played > with a light weight electronic pickup NEVER on an acoustic phonograph & > NEVER with steel needles. I STRONGLY recommend you DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS rubber cement trick unless you want to risk irreparable damage to the discs. The caveat in Jim's message is: "I have never tried this" I have already told Jeff (the original poster) off list:- They are not acetates... not a spec of acetate in them... they are cellulose nitrate lacquers probably on an aluminum base. Do not attempt to play them until they have been properly cleaned. The white stuff is palmitic acid, a result of decomposition of the Castor oil used as a plasticizer in the lacquer coating. It is crystalline and will irreparably score the grooves if you try to play them. I can safely clean, transfer and restore these if you want and output to a conventional audio CDr. ... Graham Newton -- Audio Restoration by Graham Newton, http://www.audio-restoration.com World class professional services applied to tape or phonograph records for consumers and re-releases, featuring CEDAR's CAMBRIDGE processes.
