Have a look : last uk vinyl pressing plant

[Mastering7]

The end of an age...

[wado1942]

This one gets into more of the nuts & bolts of pressing.
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[Cellotron]

It's not actually the last UK vinyl pressing plant - there's also Total Vinyl - Total Vinyl record mastering, pressing, cutting plant – all onsite

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[Adam Dempsey]

Originally Posted by shamca

Guardian.co.uk produced a wonderful, short documentary slide show on the last vinyl pressing plant in the UK. I almost wept

Nice slideshow. To be clear, it does state last "major" pressing plant, and still pressing approx 25,000/week.
We've seen quite a few 12" and 7" projects this year alone, happy that the presses used by the same company's Australian arm are well-maintained and lacquers still expertly cut in UK. Demand here seems to be increasing, if not certainly stable.

[Cellotron]

Originally Posted by Adam Dempsey

Nice slideshow. To be clear, it does state last "major" pressing plant, and still pressing approx 25,000/week.

Total according to their website has 9 Toolex Alpha's - which is nothing to sneeze at. So if all their presses were running optimally they could easily exceed 25,000 records a week as well. Anyway - I have no affiliation with them - but I do like their tastes in names

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[mossboss]

Originally Posted by Cellotron

Total according to their website has 9 Toolex Alpha's - which is nothing to sneeze at. So if all their presses were running optimally they could easily exceed 25,000 records a week as well. Anyway - I have no affiliation with them - but I do like their tastes in names

Best regards,
Steve Berson

Well this is right there is a total of 13 machines but 7 on line around that figure is produced weekly

The video is quite good but quite a number of inaccuracies there
"Steam to power the presses"
they are hydraulic steam is used to heat the moulds
"The master is cut with a diamond heated stylus"
Like to see that Saphire yes diamond no, it goes like this: DMM and diamond, Saphire and lacquer
"The mother is played back" appears to be an LP,
A few other little things there as well but for the un initiated is a good show indeed
Roy Mathews, Great guy, would have corrected the above given a preview but I doubt that this ever took place
No need to argue with reporters any way no one wins there
By the way besides Total Vinyl, there are two other plants in the UK, Phoenix of vinyl as well as Diamond Black
Quick Press, Curved, Independent, as well as another few other plants hit the dust due to low prices offered in the UK by continent based plants
Prices for vinyl in the UK are at the same levels as they where 15 years ago No way they could have survived
Ah and the vinyl factory in Sydney competes with Zenith Records in Melbourne The two cities never loved each other

[HomeProducer]

these are the real heros of music industry

[Soundmaster Alex]

Great video! Vinyl Factory (or Portalspace as I used to know it) is a really good plant.

I must admit I'm surprised at how DIRTY the whole place looks in those pics! Will have to take tour some time and wear scrubbing brushes on my feet : )

[Eric_orlake]

Originally Posted by Soundmaster Alex

Great video! Vinyl Factory (or Portalspace as I used to know it) is a really good plant.

I must admit I'm surprised at how DIRTY the whole place looks in those pics! Will have to take tour some time and wear scrubbing brushes on my feet : )

Amazing that i see no mention of Orlake records in dagenham, it was a great vinyl manufacturer. I worked there for 20 years as engineer, Toolex Alpha 1202 has no secrets for me LOL. These were great times!

[Thomas W. Bethe]

On the other side of the coin a pressing plant just opened in Cleveland, Ohio and they are very busy. Here is their site Gotta Groove Records Vinyl is not dead.

I just did my second vinyl mastering two weeks ago. Paul Gold is doing the cutting for the project.

I think in the not too distant future we are going to see a lot more releases on Vinyl since a lot of people seem to be nostalgic for the sound they remember and find they like what they hear on the new vinyl releases.

Like most things only time will tell...

[JR465]

Lets not overlook Quality Record Pressings about to come online in Kansas with presses from SMT, Toolex Alpha and Finebilt. Good to see pressing plants popping up in the USA. I read their website and they are doing some interesting things to monitor uniformity of temperature across the LP as its being pressed. I wish them well. From their site:

For example, we’ve developed a dye with an imbedded temperature sensor that we can use to cycle the presses. Rather than having the presses close and open based on time – as it’s been to date – these presses will close and open based on temperature, the far more accurate indicator of when the record is ready.

http://www.qualityrecordpressings.com/

[mossboss]

Originally Posted by JR465

Lets not overlook Quality Record Pressings about to come online in Kansas with presses from SMT, Toolex Alpha and Finebilt. Good to see pressing plants popping up in the USA. I read their website and they are doing some interesting things to monitor uniformity of temperature across the LP as its being pressed. I wish them well. From their site:

For example, we’ve developed a dye with an imbedded temperature sensor that we can use to cycle the presses. Rather than having the presses close and open based on time – as it’s been to date – these presses will close and open based on temperature, the far more accurate indicator of when the record is ready.

http://www.qualityrecordpressings.com/

Well I am not sure of what these guys done as an educated guess the steam temeprature is monitored at the exit point of the mold
Now what is so fantastic about that A point of difference? I would have thought Not
Why? Well suffice to say that Code 31 on any Alpha Tollex press will allow the press to work with a temperature controlled mold as a standard item
This was already programmed in the system back in the mid to late 70's and applied by one or two record manufacturers in the very early 8o's
Most presses use time as the means of controling cycle time which does not allow for any variations on steam delivery such as pressure drop or no steam available for whatever reason
Nothing new in this guys old hat stuff It is more advantageous for the operator of the press as quality improvement is marginal
On the assumption there is no steam available the press will proceed with its cycle ruining a set of stampers in the process as the puck may be to hard worst case or make a few rejects until the operator sorts it out
In some cases they will stop as the record would as thick as a dagwwod sandwich not removed from the molds so it stops and triggers the alarm
Whe it is al said and done and at the end of the day it is almost impossible to have uniform heat distribution on any record press mold due to the way they are and have been made since adam was a boy
RCA with they CD4 system dead and gone long ago patented a system of mold design which did allow for perfectly flat records
These where to be used in the very first Video players with no more than about 4 thou maximum flactaution allowed
The cost of one of these pair of molds was quoted to us at around the $25,000 for the pair
Yeah Right enough said
Pressing plants do a far better job today than in days past as they are mostly run by people who do care and love vinyl
And yes its a good thing that plants do open up rather than the opposite
Cheers