Flexi Materials

[FFrankensteinRecords]

Hey, so I know there has been some discussions of flexi materials on here in the past, but new things are discovered, old things become unavailable, plate formulas change, etc.
So what flexi materials are working for you guys and where are you getting them?
I've cut on these Party City brand plastic plates and they work alright. Lots of surface noise but decent enough fidelity. Anybody know about cutting on x-ray sheets? Are those easily available, do they work well, etc?

[pentlandsound]

Not sure about X-ray plates, but for indenting/embossing flexible material I use these craft acetate sheets from Papermania. Each sheet works out at 40p to 60p depending on the retailer, and from it one 12-inch or two 7-inch discs can be cut out. I have tried many brands of flexible craft acetate and these are streets ahead of anything else in terms of background noise, sound quality and trackability. Here's a YouTube video of a disc I made from this material.

One thing to be aware of is, after being indented, the flexible disc develops quite a curl which can make it difficult to play. Leave it under some heavy books overnight, or even better, record something on the other side.

[FFrankensteinRecords]

Does the acetate sheet degrade after a small number of plays?

[pentlandsound]

Does the acetate sheet degrade after a small number of plays?

Bear in mind that the surface is never completely silent, although the Papermania material is the quietest I've found. I haven't noticed any appreciable deterioration with use, and I've played some of my home-made flexis dozens of times. I suppose it depends on what kind of playback system you're using: I use mainly a Dual CS-5000 TT with OM-10 stylus, a KAM DJ turntable and a Sound Burger to test my discs. (I also have an ION LP-2-GO which, with its 36 / 49rpm turntable, heavy dead-weight arm and granite stylus, can be relied on to destroy just about anything it touches - so I don't use it, except very briefly to test trackability.)

Put briefly, the flexible acetate seems to be as durable as the solid 1mm polycarbonate that I use.

[tragwag]

x-ray sheets do not work, no matter what you try.
the old stories of sneaking grooves cut onto x-ray sheets into Russia during the wars, the formulation of those sheets were far different than anything I've ever come across.
do yourself a favor and don't try current x-ray sheets.

the best flexi material I've cut (embossed) was the thinnest polycarb you can get.
give that try before anything else.

picnic plates have been good for me in the past, but they do degrade.
I've found success with blue solo brand plates

[piaptk]

Russian xrays were pressed, not cut. You Can, however, cut xrays with a diamond, but you've got to glue them to poly first to keep them flat.

[Cubed]

Has anyone tried transperancy sheets? Most of them are made out of polyethylene terephthalate (PET, what most plastic bottles are made out of.)

I tried to cut but the don't cut smoothly at all even when heated but I haven't had a chance to try embossing them yet.

Anyone tried it before?

[recordboy]

wonderful info here. I for sure have interest in flexi materials am will soon be trying these and others, when I get my machines up and running, yet I have only old home tech machines.

[Graham B.]

I've been making flexis by embossing on .010 polycarbonate. It's about the same thickness as a transparency. I've also used .015 and .020 which are less "flexi" but a little easier to work with because they lay a little flatter. For the thinnest stuff I'll tape the edges to a bigger blank to keep them flat. I just asked a plastics distributer if they could order it. I get 3'x4' sheets, I don't know who makes it.

[recordboy]

Great to know measurements Gram.

saw this and thought to add here:

"The best clear recording media I have found so far, GBC ClearView Standard Presentation Covers: These are the clear kind that are smooth. They are normally used for making covers for the many hole spiral (actually helical) binders. The sound quality is almost as good as a hard drive platter, and at a much cheaper cost. $10.99 gets you 125 records. That's less than 9 cents per disc. The only disadvantage is that you can't make picture records. But I haven't found laminating plastic available at a store that allows for the full 15 minutes of recording."



info from: http://www.amish.classicalgasemissions.com/soundscriber.html

this info may have already been linked in another thread.

[Cubed]

Thanks Guys, i'm experimenting with the transparency sheets but I'll well try those PC next.

I'm getting better results but i got 92 sheets to go.