HOW SCRAP RECORDS MAKE NEW DISCS
Picture story shows what happens to old records at the factory
New recorel supply elepenels on scrap
- Your olel recorels are neeeleel NOW
Y
1. Scrap records are shown on arrival at the RCA
Victor plant. Only solid scrap is worth, it~ weight
for the manufacture of new records of quahty. Lam·
inated records have very little scrap value. Crews
of girls, like those pictured above, are trained
to sort the usable discs from the unusable.
2.
After inspection . the usable records are care·
fully weighed. Thes'e records, come from the whole·
saler who, in turn, has Qbtained them from local
record dealers. The supply depends on the num·
ber of old discs ;nusic love rs deliver to the latter.
OU have been hearing a lot lately about
the urgent need for old records. This is
something we can't emphasize too much or too
often. By this time every reader should be fa·
miliar with the fact that shellac, a record in·
gredient, has largely been frozen for war pur·
poses. This means that the flow of new records
is to a great extent dependent on the supply
of old records, which can be ground up and
reprocessed with complete success, although
the procedure is more costly than the use of
raw shellac-when the latter is available. Your
deal er will be glad to purchase all the old
records you can find-scratch ed, chipped or
even broken-for return to the factory.
By "new" records we don't mean just those
released recently ,but all of the listings in the
catalog for which there is a constant demand.
Thus, the availability of a standard recording
of a Brahms or Beethoven symphony you may
decide lo purchase several months from now
will depend largely, on the amount of old rec·
ords turned in during the next few weeks.
The use of scrap material is no more detri·
mental to the finished product than the use of
scrap metal in the making of steel. In fact, a
certain proportion of scrap has always been
used in this manner. Keep music flowing; turn
in those old records at once-for cash!
3. Having been carefully rechecked and accurately 4. The ground and reground record material comes
weighed intq six· to seven. hundred· pound lots, the
records are shoveled into the maw of the huge grind-
ing machine that pulverizes them into a fine powder.
out here. It has been filtered through fine·meshed
screens. By m:eans of a special process, all unwanted
particles, such as paper labels, are removed.
5. A French chef couldn't be more precise than these
men as they measure and mix an exact percentage
of the powdered scrap with plant scrap {trim
removed from the edges of pressed records} and
virgin materials. The formula is mixed fo r twenty
minutes to ensure perfect blending. At this point,
scrap ceases to be scrap; it is now part of the
blended compound from which a new record is made.
The normal process of manufacturing follows.
6.
The hub pictured above gives only a sugges-
tion of the huge size of the Banbury Mixer, a giant
machine two facto ry floors high. In it, the mix is
churned into a black plastic mass.
9. A new Victor Record comes from the press. Th e
excess material around the edge will be trimmed;
the record polished, inspected and packaged. Then
"the music you want when you want it" is ready.