Hi all. I bought a new album and when putting it on my LP 12 last night the hole was too small in diameter to fit easily on. I pressed down on the sides of the record surrounding the hole and it fit on normally. When I went to switch sides it wouldn’t come off easily and I had to shimmy it a bit to get it off. Would doing this damage the spindle or the LP12 at all?
Also, for those of you who have bought new records that don’t fit, what do you use to widen the hole?
Ken
No chance of damage to the spindle.
Don’t ream with a screwdriver the proper item is.
A 5/16-inch imperial Allen key is used with a record center hole punch or “dinker” tool to enlarge vinyl record centers.
Online auction site here about £3 last forever. 
The vinyl of the record is far too soft a material to damage the spindle so no worries there.
As far as enlarging the hole goes I use the same method as Skeptikal but you could use a 5/16 drill bit but slowly twisted by hand only. I find the allen key most effective. If you want to go with metric then the size is 8mm as an equivalent but it is about 0.6mm bigger than 5/16in you could go 7mm but that is more like 9/32in so slightly tighter.
appreciate the responses Robinho and Skeptikal, thank you!
just to confirm you insert a 5/16 or 8mm drill bit and rotate it by hand?
I was trying to word my question carefully to avoid you posting one of those “Skeptikal” photos and finally gave up and just typed what I was trying to ask lol
Or, I just push a pencil through the hole and rotate it a couple of turns.
Yes that’s it. Just do it gently to not over cut or oval the whole.
I use a fine tapered craft scalpel, and gently turn it to pare off a diaphanous shaving or two.
