Dinking

After watching the above video, we decided to attempt dinking some records with a utility knife. We had seen some other methods and tools for doing the job, but the utility knife seemed cheap enough to attempt.

We used a pretty similar setup as in the video.

The task proved to be pretty difficult. We managed to get a couple dinked, but the holes needed a lot of sanding down to fit an adaptor.

We also had a lot of trouble with blades going dull quickly and tips breaking easily. The thicknesses of the records made a big difference, and different vinyl blends could be easier or more difficult to cut. Colored vinyl seemed to be a little softer and easier to cut.

After cracking a record while trying to push out the center, we gave up on dinking for a couple weeks.

We did end up giving it another shot, and things weren't any easier. We ended up going through all the blades that came with the utility knife and starting on a pack of replacement blades. The other blades made a world of difference. They seemed much sharper and the tips didn't break. It seems as though the blades that came with our knife were just not very good.

With the new blades working well, we had no problem dinking a bunch of records pretty quickly and easily. Success!