# Zenith Tool & Die — Full Content

> Specialist CNC manufacturing for the vinyl record industry. Zenith Tool & Die (Est. 2019) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Zenith Records (https://zenithrecords.org — a fully integrated vinyl pressing plant in Brunswick East, Melbourne, pressing records for 20-odd years). The group also includes Magnetic South (distribution arm). Zenith Tool & Die fabricates moulds to suit current and legacy vinyl record presses, with an emphasis on moulds, pins, bushes and 2-barrel extruders.

## Pages

- Home (/) — overview, heritage, history, who we are, capabilities, workshop gallery, FAQ, quote form
- Moulds (/moulds) — the mould story and Zenith's three proprietary mould architectures
- Pins & Bushes (/pins-bushes) — pins and bushes are consumables that decide stamper life; three Zenith styles (flat-face, raised-ridge, oval-faced for faster cooling) plus the shim-free AD12 bottom bush for Pheenix presses. All heat-treated
- Twin Barrel Extruder (/extruders) — for records beyond black or single-colour: two additional PVC pucks of different colours, so three coloured pucks at once alongside the press's own extruder. Cups for pre-formed pucks in star, three-part segmented (male/female), pinwheel and custom shapes. Individually speed-controlled, independently heated barrels; twin safety buttons and light curtains
- Site Index (/sitemap) — human-readable index of all pages

## Capabilities

- Vinyl Record Press Moulds: moulds to suit current and legacy vinyl record presses — the main focus, from new tooling to replacement sets for machines long out of production
- Mould Pins & Bushes: precision replacement pins and bushes machined to drawing, keeping legacy presses aligned and running
- 2-Barrel Extruders: new 2-barrel extruders for vinyl compound processing, built and finished in-house
- Auxiliary Equipment: equipment to support and extend vinyl pressing lines
- General CNC Machining: precision parts for the wider vinyl record industry, prototypes through production runs

## The Record Mould (/moulds)

The heart of every vinyl press is its mould — and the whole global industry is still running on engineering frozen in 1972.

Once PVC became the standard, pressing turned into an unforgiving thermodynamics problem. Moulds have to cycle fast between live steam and chilled water under continuous hydraulic clamp tonnage. Any uncontrolled temperature swing across the mould face and you get groove non-fill, surface noise, disc deformation. Yet for over fifty years the market has been running on the same cloned, unoptimized internal passages.

Zenith Records hit this wall directly. When production tooling was depleted, three years were spent commissioning outside commercial toolmakers. Every attempt failed. Standard machine shops can cut metal to a print, but they do not understand the violent cyclic fatigue of a live pressing cycle. The only answer was to make everything in-house: Zenith Tool & Die.

Engineering: tooling backed by decades of actual press-floor production. Milled from high-grade 4140 tool steel to take continuous mechanical and thermal shock, internal circuits modeled with proprietary flow-simulation software to squeeze face-temperature variance to the physical minimum. Upper and lower moulds are batch-matched against asymmetric thermal drift; every set is bench-tested under high-accuracy thermal imaging, proving both halves heat and cool on an identical profile before bolting into a press frame.

Production metrics:
- 20–25% faster cycles (heat-up and cooling): a four-press plant running Zenith moulds gets the output of a fifth machine without buying one
- No dish warpage: balanced thermal dissipation, dead-flat records on release
- 500,000-record warranty: every set warranted for half a million pressings before face resurface or internal descaling, handled in-house
- Fits every press: drop-in tooling for Lened, SMT, Hamilton, Finebuild (book moulds with removable inserts), legacy Alpha Toolex, modern Pheenix AD12, and Newbilt (manual and automatic)
- All centre profiles: standard 45° or parallel bush centres, large Columbia-style centre bushes, vintage UK-spec 1/2-inch (7" 45 RPM)

Result: three proprietary mould architectures — Traditional (Enhanced Flow), Segmented Gallery (unprecedented thermal evenness across the mould surface), and The Latest Iteration (multi-year R&D toward the ultimate record mould; commercially protected) — each available as 7", 10" and 12" moulds, built for shorter cycles, near-zero scrap and long production life, available now.

## History

In the early-to-mid 1980s the vinyl record business collapsed worldwide. Most plants scrapped their presses; the majors moved to CD. What remained were smaller plants run by people who refused to give the format up, and scattered equipment in condition anywhere between junk and almost good. No legacy pressing plant had the luxury of new equipment. The revival brought records back, but not the machines to make them — and there is still no factory making moulds, pins, bushes and extruders for legacy presses. Zenith Tool & Die was born of necessity inside Zenith Records to fill that gap.

## Who We Are

The toolmaking arm of Zenith Records, born of necessity in a Brunswick East plant that has been pressing records for 20-odd years. We fabricate moulds, pins, bushes and extruders for pressing plants — current machines, and the old presses the manufacturers walked away from years ago. The shop is small on purpose: every job is quoted, machined and checked by the same hands. Customers deal direct with the person making their parts.

## Frequently asked

- Do you make moulds for legacy vinyl record presses? Yes — moulds to suit current and legacy vinyl record presses are our main focus, including replacement mould sets for machines that are long out of production.
- What parts do you fabricate besides press moulds? Mould pins and bushes, 2-barrel extruders, auxiliary equipment for pressing lines, and general precision CNC parts for the wider vinyl record industry.
- How much experience do you have with vinyl? Zenith Tool & Die is a wholly owned subsidiary of Zenith Records, who have been pressing records for 20-odd years.
- Can I send drawings with my enquiry? Yes — the quote form accepts PDF, STEP, DWG, DXF or image files up to 25MB.
- How do I get a quote? Fill in the Request a Quote form on the page, or reach out by email or WhatsApp.

## Contact

- Email: mossboss48@icloud.com
- WhatsApp: +61 428 462 888
- Address: Factory 6/155 Donald Street, Brunswick East, Victoria 3057, Australia
- Parent company: Zenith Records — https://zenithrecords.org