Disc Repair/Resurfacing ... What is it Worth?

goomba478

CAGiversary!
Feedback
599 (100%)
Hey guys. I'm honestly considering plunking down $500 for a Venmill "Skip-Away Pro" (Link here: http://www.venmill.com/products/skipaway.asp ). It's touted as being one of the best consumer/entry-level professional disc repair system that repairs by heating up the disc, getting rid of scratches and buffing to a nice shine.

I'm considering to buy this for personal use (as some games at Gamsetop have minor scratches but would be otherwise perfect), for business use (for repairing games that are near mint and essentially getting out all scratches entirely) and for repair services (offering to fellow friends/CAGs/etc. to have their games repaired for a small fee).

The thing is for $500 I'm a bit worried to throw out that much cash for something I have never actually used and have only read online reviews for. So what say you guys? Worth it? Not? It costs about $0.40 on average to repair a disc according to the reviews which easily could pay for itself if all goes well.

I'd love to know what you think :)

=JJ=
 
We have several of the more expensive Venmill machines where I work (they're the 3500s on the same site), and they do work well.

Looking at the machine in the link, I'd carefully consider the cost of replacement pads and fluid before you buy. The pads we have last a lot longer than 500 uses, but the fluid goes faster than it's supposed to.

I'd be surprised if you could turn a real profit if you only charge $1-2 per fix, but it might be nice to have for yourself if you need to fix discs fairly often.
 
Thanks for the info guys. I don't really have any Game Crazy's or Movie Gallery stores near where I live, but it's great to hear from someone that has used a Venmill machine.

Jek Porkins, I'm curious...does it warp the disc bottom at all applying heat/pressure? Reviewers say that with light scratches it can restore the disc to look brand new which I find incredible. I've always wondered too if that goes for PSX discs with the black bottoms as well. I assume it would but have no idea.

I'm not really looking to turn a profit with the machine, but rather recoup some of the high price of buying it. Good to know also about the buffing pads/fluid. I realize there are cheaper disc repair systems out there, but I like that it's all self-contained and very light on needing cleaning etc.

Thanks again for the info!
 
www.azuradisc.com is a very good place if you need some disc cleaned, they only charge $1 per disc. I have sent in at least 150 and they come back great. If you want your own machine you can try the Venmill, maybe they do a 30 day money back guarantte or something if you don't like it.
 
What you could also do is hang fliers around your neighborhood saying "DISK REPAIR - $2 per disc! Guarenteed to remove scratches" etc. and have those things that you can cut off a piece of paper at the bottom with your number.
 
Scripps12, that's actually a genius idea :) There actually might be a lot of people interested seeing as none of the local businesses do anything like that. With the number of gamers in my area you may be onto something =) If I could charge $2 a disc I'm sure I could pay back the repair machine in no time. Thanks for the suggestion ^_^
 
[quote name='Scripps12']What you could also do is hang fliers around your neighborhood saying "DISK REPAIR - $2 per disc! Guarenteed to remove scratches" etc. and have those things that you can cut off a piece of paper at the bottom with your number.[/QUOTE]

although you might want to spell guaranteed right on yours :lol:
 
[quote name='goomba478']
Jek Porkins, I'm curious...does it warp the disc bottom at all applying heat/pressure? Reviewers say that with light scratches it can restore the disc to look brand new which I find incredible. I've always wondered too if that goes for PSX discs with the black bottoms as well. I assume it would but have no idea.
[/QUOTE]

When the pads are in good shape and working properly (and the scratching isn't beyond all hope) the machine does make it look pretty much like new. With the machines at my workplace it actually takes the pads a day or so to get working well after we've replaced them, and they tend to slough off bits of the strings they're composed of. After that initial period, though, they're good to go for a lot of cleanings, and only need a maintenance cycle run once in a while.

We've had the machines warp a disc or two, but over the course of thousands and thousands of runs. It's only when the drawer mechanism doesn't match up with the pads (basically an engineering failure) or if the drawer opens during the cycle. I tell customers that if they want a disc cleaned there's a 1 in 5000 or so chance that something might go wrong, and it's out of my control if it does. Haven't had a customer disc go wrong yet (just store discs).

Oh, and it works on pretty much any optical media disc. DVDs, Games, Blu-Ray, whatever. We have some audio books on CD where I work, and for some reason it's hard to clean those with the machine. We've come to the conclusion that they're made on the cheapest CD-R style discs possible, and they're just more flimsy.

Again, this is all with the bigger machines. I've never used the smaller one you show in the link.

Hope that helps. :)
 
This thing takes 3 minutes per disc to work? That seems like a long time. Have you ever considered the bench grinder technique? a simple bench grinder with a cloth buffer wheel and some car polish (or any polish you trust for CDs) makes discs look 99% brand new in about 30 seconds.

I've seen it first-hand at a once-local store called CD Tradepost. They'll buff up a scratched disc before you buy it if you ask them to, and they sometimes leave the back door open while they're repairing it for you. It was like the Wizard scene from Oz seeing how they work their magic using something so simple.

This setup costs about $50.
 
I have a store near me that uses the bench grinder and it is 110% better then anything movie gallery's or gamecrazy's machines can do. It leaves no signs of buffing and works on ps1 and blueback ps2 games as well. I built one for about $50 2 years ago and have buffed thousands of discs without ever damaging one. I have bought hundreds of scratched cd's this year at yardsales for 10-25 cents, buffed them and traded them in at fye (always anal about condition) and they have never turned one down and even mentioned to me on a few occasions how good i take care of my cd's.
 
[quote name='bluekeith75'] I built one (Grinder Buffer) for about $50 2 years ago and have buffed thousands of discs without ever damaging one...[/quote]

That's an excellent confirmation of the way to go. Care to divulge your specific methods and accessories you use? I always knew the grinder to be the best, but don't have a personal need for one...yet...my son is almost 2, I think I'll need one soon.
 
I was at a used game store in Chicago over the weekend, and right after I bought the game the guy cleaned it for free, I don't know what machine he used but the game looks BRAND NEW. Could any of you guys describe the grinder methods?
 
the video store i used to work at had one. my boss still lets me come in and use the machine if i want. it works about 75% of the time unless the disc has huge gouges in it.
 
bread's done
Back
Top