Lacquer disc news from Austrovinyl and AUDIOLAC

[DR_faust]

Great News from the Austrovinyl record pressing plant!
This year we have started using lacquer from AUDIOLAC for our in-house production of 14-inch master discs.
After five years of intensive work, we are successfully coating, cutting and electroplating our own lacquer discs and using them for vinyl record pressings valued by our clients.
We would like to thank Anna Comiotto from AUDIOLAC for the development of an excellent new lacquer formulation.
AUDIOLAC is a perfectly suited and exciting new element in our production process.

For more information see: www.audiolac.ch

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[Lupu]

Congrats!

[Virtalahde]

That's great news! I'll be following this for sure - had very little problems with MDC but obviously we can't rely on one plant only.

[Phinster]

Well done! It's about time this happened...will you be selling these at some point?

[untitledthe]

Amazing! Congratulations!

[andybee]

Great work!
How many discs can you produce per day? The final goal is, to make a good amount
per day (if you want to sell them). This is/was the biggest challenge...
I hope, this happens soon, a 2nd or 3rd supplier would be great.
All the best for the future!

[Lupu]

Great work!
How many discs can you produce per day? The final goal is, to make a good amount
per day (if you want to sell them). This is/was the biggest challenge...
I hope, this happens soon, a 2nd or 3rd supplier would be great.
All the best for the future!

Hi Andy,

I'm obviously not speaking on behalf of Austrovinyl or AUDIOLAC, but let me ask you a question:

Why would anyone take the trouble of scaling the production and trying to sell their blanks?

Public Record Co., Ltd. (mdc limited.) dominates the commercial lacquer blank market and makes it difficult to enter as a new supplier. They don't do it intentionally of course, but in practice that is the case.

If you really need a 2nd supplier, why don't you manufacture the blanks on a small scale for your own use..?

Best Regards,
Lupu

[andybee]

hi Lupu, I don´t think so,
as there is still a lot demand for laquers, another supplier would make more then sense.
I have tried to make them in small amounts, it is a pain in the ass, the laquer stinks,
it's very dangerous for health and the enviroment, so one place, where it manufactured
professional & secure with good machines, would be the best, believe me.
It is a naive idea, that every cutting room has it´s own laquer manufacturing, but
this makes mostly no sense from what I experienced. Too complicated, too dangerous.
Maybe if you can find a laquer formula, that is not as dangerous as actetate laquer maybe...
just my point of view.
best, andi

[Tellsan]

You are right about the stress & health issues I had 11 tumors in me & prostate issues at 1 point from over exposure to VOC's.
I had to buy a lot of equipment to monitor everything around me.
It turned out that at home even the soap I bathed with & the laundry detergent was emitting VOCs. So even when I went home & had a bath & went to bed I was still being exposed.
I took some of the test equipment to the supermarket to test for soaps & laundry detergent that had little or no VOCs & I did find a few products.
I had to back off for 2 years and changed a lot of things before the tumors & prostate issues were gone, & it was good when I started to feel normal again .

I see the photo of those people wearing masks & I'm a bit worried for them.

After sorting out all the issues with ventilation for my clean room & the formula now I only wear a mask when I am coating the discs in the clean room with my 8 channel dispenser.
If I use the 16 or 24 channel I don't have to wear mask because the exposure is very brief just a few minutes instead of nearly an hour to coat 144 discs.
I exit that room & in 24-36 hours some are flipped over & others are moved to baking.
I only bake the disc once, both sides same time, as 1 time in the past I found out the second side that was baked once was always more quiet than the 1st side which gets baked twice.

I am very happy with my logistics now & when I finish the rack upgrades things will be even better,
I cant believe the progress I have made in the past 2 years.

THANK YOU NBC FOR THOSE OLD DISCS.

All that said I was playing with the idea of selling kits that can make 4 or 8 discs at a time for hobby users, the discs would not have to be baked for that process but you would have to wait a few days before use. Not sure IF I will do that yet,,, we will see.

[DR_faust]

Hello everyone,
I wish you all a happy new year.

Due to some confusion caused by the first post, I would like to clarify the following:

-AUSTROVINYL produces 14" master-lacquer-discs for internal use.
-AUDIOLAC developed and produces the lacquer for it.

So what exactly do I do?

I take a used lacquer disc and peel off one side. This side is thoroughly cleaned to remove any remaining lacquer residues.
The reverse side, which still has the original lacquer, is also cleaned carefully, as the disc has already been in the electroplating bath.
After that, the bare upper side gets newly coated with lacquer using a curtain coater and then dried.
This means that only one side of the disc is recoated with lacquer!

We all know that in most cases only one side of the lacquer disc is needed, approximately 98% of the time.
For this reason, I coat only one side. This approach has proven to be effective.

The sound quality of the music on our lacquer-discs is excellent.
The background noise can vary slightly, but remains at a level comparable to the leading Japanese manufacturer.

Last year, we completed around 300 projects (albums) using our own lacquer discs without a single complaint.
Even though the coating line is currently used on average only once per month a couple of hours..
Of course, this naturally leads to thoughts about upscaling and the question of what would be possible if coating were done every day.
Some mathematical projections were applied—on paper, this results in incredibly attractive numbers.

But do I actually want to compete with the world’s number-one manufacturer—one that has been delivering the highest quality consistently and with reliable supply for decades?
I do not think that would be a meaningful or productive approach.

In my opinion, it makes more sense for record pressing plants to produce lacquer-discs themselves.
In small quantities for internal use—just as we do at Austrovinyl, to supplement the superb Japanese lacquer-discs and, of course, as a backup in case of supply shortages,
such as those that occurred in 2020 following the fire at the American manufacturer.

What are the advantages?

You have control over the quality, you have control over the quantity, you have control over the process,
you have a cost-effective alternative, you recycle the used laquer-discs that you would otherwise have to throw away
and you have a backup in case of supply disruptions.

What is needed?

A dust-free room, good ventilation, the necessary machines, some safety precautions, a good understanding of the processes, clean working practices, and a keen eye for quality.

It is not a do-it-yourself hobby project, but it is also not rocket science.
From my many years of experience, I would say that anyone who can run a professional, high-quality electroplating department can also manage an in-house lacquer-disc production!

Feel free to PM me for any questions.
Contact me directly if you require my assistance.

All the best, Johann

[farmersplow]

I like this. Innovative Austria.

Perhaps I could visit you sometime and take a look?

Greetings from Austria to Austria,
Thomas

[DR_faust]

Hi everybody,

Winterbreak is over.

Master-lacquer discs coating season 2026 started

https://youtu.be/3KASfFZS6hE?si=gHe04IHySxm9a1tY

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to pm me

Cheers, Johann

[zdenek]

Can you upload a few more shots of the film?

[untitledthe]

Nice