How vinyl records are made
Every vinyl record is squeezed between two nickel plates under about 150 tons of pressure.
- stations
- 9
- things upstream
- 63
- raw sources
- 24
- steps from the ground
- 8
The short version
A vinyl record starts as an aluminum disc coated in nitrocellulose lacquer, into which a lathe engraves the sound as a spiral groove. The lacquer is sprayed with silver and electroplated with nickel to make metal stampers. In a hydraulic press, a heated biscuit of PVC is squeezed between two stampers with a label on each side.
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Coat the blank disc
An aluminum core is sanded smooth and coated in nitrocellulose lacquer on a conveyor. Any flaw in the coat ruins the result, so the failure rate at inspection is very high.
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Cut the groove
A cutting lathe drives a hard stylus into the coated disc, engraving a spiral groove whose wiggles are the sound wave. The lacquer can be played only a few times before it degrades.
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Silver the lacquer
The disc is washed and sprayed with tin chloride and liquid silver, which gives it a conductive skin. Silver that does not stick is washed away.
Goes in -
Plate it in nickel
The disc goes into a tank of dissolved nickel, and electric charge builds nickel up on the silver surface. The metal layer is then peeled off as a negative of the groove.
Goes in -
Finish the stampers
Further plating can make more copies, ending in working stampers, one for each side of the record. An optical punch centers the hole, and excess metal is trimmed off.
Goes in -
Punch the labels
Labels are printed in square stacks, then punched in the center and trimmed into circles. They have to be ready first, because they fuse to the record in the press.
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Form the biscuit
PVC pellets, with carbon for black records, are heated to a molten state and formed into a soft lump called a biscuit or puck.
Goes in -
Press the record
With a label on each side, the biscuit is centered between two nickel stampers in a hydraulic press. The press closes under about 150 tons of pressure, and the vinyl fills every groove within seconds.
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Cool and trim
The record is cooled with water or air, and the excess vinyl around the edge, called flash, is trimmed off and can be reused. Records are checked, sleeved and boxed.
Worth repeating
- Recycled vinyl pellets come from trimmed waste and unsold records, and they can bring more surface noise than virgin vinyl.
- Vinyl records replaced the old shellac 78s, and by 1958 vinyl was standard.
Back to the ground
Follow every input upstream and vinyl record starts as these 24 raw sources.
Everything it is made of See it on the map
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Sources
- Phonograph record
- Record press
- How vinyl records are made (Your Sound Matters)
- How vinyl records are pressed and perfected (Hypebot)
Cite this page: "How vinyl records are made." Assembly Line, 2026-11-03. https://assemblyline.org/make/vinyl-record