Yes, the temperature of the blank does indeed have a very pronounced effect on the quality of the recording.
I have done many thousands of recording tests on brown wax cylinders. This is mainly because each of my brand new brown wax blanks gets tested using at least a few different recorders, before being shaved and shipped to a customer. 70 degrees F. is about the lowest temperature at which one can hope to obtain a reasonable quality recording. 80 degrees F. is much better. 85 degrees is great. 90 degrees works extremely well too. However then when temperatures in the range of 95 F. and on up to 100 and past are used, then slight problems start to crop up such as the cutter cutting too deeply, modulation becomes extreme, and in the worst case the cutter digs so deeply that some of the groove modulation gets over into the territory of the next groove, so the resulting recording has what I call "echo-around". One of the workable methods for warming a blank before recording is to have the blank on the mandrel and have the machine running then have a 100 watt lamp close to it. Run that for a few minutes before recording. Then after making the recording wait a few minutes before playing back to allow the blank to cool down. And yes by all means do be super-careful not to get a warmed blank jammed onto the mandrel as it cools down. Take the blank off the machine to let it cool. In short, yes you can warm the blanks. But by far the best method I've found is to record on hot summer days when the temperature is somewhere between about 80 to 90 degrees. Mid to high 80s works very nice! Results vary for different recorders and different types of blanks. Best way to find out what works for you is to do plenty of experiments until you find out what produces the results you are after. Please visit my website http://www.richardslaboratories.com for more details. Chuck Richards > > >---- Original Message ---- >From: [email protected] >To: [email protected] >Subject: RE: [POSSIBLE SPAM] Re: [Phono-L] Query Baout Warming Wax >Cylinders for Recording >Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2015 02:23:17 +0000 > >>Warming the cylinders, the way John suggested, does work. However, >you must warm the mandrel the same way. I made that mistake many >years ago and slipped a warmed cylinder on a colder mandrel only to >hear a PING when the cylinder split lengthwise. Also, the warming >trick works on original shaved brown wax, but Im not sure the >reaction is the same on newly made blanks. >> >> >> >>Have fun! >> >> >> >>-Scott & Denise Corbett >> >> >> >>From: Antique Phonograph List [mailto:[email protected]] >>Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2015 12:03 PM >>To: Antique Phonograph List >>Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Query Baout Warming Wax Cylinders for >Recording >> >> >> >>The way it was done at our GPS meeting where we recorded a >commemorative brown wax was to hold the blank near a 60 watt bulb in >a desk lamp and turn it by hand for a few moments. It was held maybe >3 or 4 inches from the bulb. The resulting recording came out very >well. >> >> >> >>John Robles >> >> >> >>-------- Original message -------- >>From: Antique Phonograph List <[email protected]> >>Date:02/11/2015 10:43 AM (GMT-08:00) >>To: [email protected] >>Subject: [Phono-L] Query Baout Warming Wax Cylinders for Recording >> >> >> >> >>Happy Birthday, Mr. Edison!!! >> >> >> >>Im getting set up to record wax cylinders on my Edison triumph >Phonograph using mainly old cut down Dictaphone blanks of a few jazz >musicians at the Thomas Edison Birthday Commemoration Party Im >hosting at 6:30 this evening & would like to know the best way to >warm them before recording. Any suggestions? >> >> >> >>Thanks... >> >> >> >>Very truly yours, >> >> >> >> >> >>Jim Cartwright >> >>IMMORTAL PERFORMANCES, INC >> >>Austins Eclectic Used Record Store Since 1971 >> >>1404 West 30th Street Austin, Texas 78703-1402 USA >> >>(512) 478-9954 E-mail: [email protected] >> >> >> >> >> >>Image removed by sender.Image removed by sender. >> >> >> >> $4.95/mo. National Dialup, Anti-Spam, Anti-Virus, 5mb personal web space. 5x faster dialup for only $9.95/mo. No contracts, No fees, No Kidding! See http://www.All2Easy.net for more details! _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org
