This is for us laserdisc fanatics who wanna try something just for fun. First check out these DIY burning lasers:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=how+to+make+a+laser+burner&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=-e7tSr-AIJCMtAPJ4LDiCA&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CB8QqwQwAA#

QUESTION: Is there a chemical out there that can erase all the pits and lands on any laserdisc? If so, can these DIY lasers then burn new pits?

No. Laserdiscs are made by stamping a foil sheet, not by burning. Discs for burning use organic dyes that crystallize with laser heat and orient in a different direction. they are not actual pits and lands, but look like it to a reading laser.

Hmmm, could an opaque reflective die be sprayed onto the disc surface?

No. Laserdiscs are made by stamping a foil sheet, not by burning. Discs for burning use organic dyes that crystallize with laser heat and orient in a different direction. they are not actual pits and lands, but look like it to a reading laser.

ummmm, why :confused:

btw. i have a CLD D701

Hmmm, could an opaque reflective die be sprayed onto the disc surface?

No. All of these things are oxygen and UV sensitive. They don't work unless they are under layers of polycarbonate and lacquer. Exposed to air you get useless oxides.

There were actually burners made, mostly seen in the military. There was a special LD that was used for the recording and the Industrial LD-V4400 could read them. It could only write CAV mode. Not a simple process, time sync the recording to the disc rotation, FM encode everything meaning all pits and lans are different lengths.

Thanks for your responses. I never intended this to be a practical use project. Oh well. Long LIVE THE LD!

@Kurtis:
Yep I've heard about RLVs. Very expensive recorders with $$$$ per blank disc. These discs had a reddish tint.

This is for us laserdisc fanatics who wanna try something just for fun. First check out these DIY burning lasers:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=how+to+make+a+laser+burner&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=-e7tSr-AIJCMtAPJ4LDiCA&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CB8QqwQwAA#

QUESTION: Is there a chemical out there that can erase all the pits and lands on any laserdisc? If so, can these DIY lasers then burn new pits?

As much as I appreciate your enthusiasm, from what I know about burners and burning media, this would be an nearly-(but not completely-)impossible and extremely costly. In my estimation, you'd have to be able to create your own burner and be proficient in programming at the assembly-, or even machine code-, level in addition to being able to make enormous modifications to exiting hardware.
However, why?
Laserdisc can be archived to DVD (or even Blu-ray) via capture devices so I don't see an archival or backup purpose.
And as far as creating new media, Blu-ray is unquestionably a better format in (nearly) every respect and there would be far, far, far less knowledge/expense/time involved in authoring your own blu-ray masters.
If you were willing to spend the money that you would spend on this project on quality blu-ray authoring software instead and the time that you devoted to this project on developing your authoring skills instead, not only would you create a more desireable finished product but you might be able to care yourself a profitable niche authoring media for small companies/well-heeled consumers.

There was a non stamping process to produce standard laser disks. The company was ODC, Optical Disk Corporation in Cerritos CA. The used a custom disk blank that was recorded by a 600w blue laser. The disks were compatable with any standard laser disk player. It could make CAV as well as CLV disks. These machines were a two rack console and required 240v power as well as highly filtered compressed air. The entire disk transport and laser was air floated. The cost in 1988 was about $250K. The quality in the first few years was on par with VHS. Later the quality was made close to a stamped disk through advances in the disk photo layer chemistry.

These were quite commen in Hollywood for the early non-linear electronic film edit systems. Tape based editing could not do random access so laserdisk was used instead. These edit systems had 4 to 6 players and you needed multiple copies to ensure head and tail buffers for edits. So the Studios had a healthy appitite for overnight dailies film to laserdisks transfers from the mid 1980s to early 1990s.

Video compression and hard disk capacity advancements in the mid 1990s quickly killed off this process. The first best known company to utilize standard computer hardware and early video compression was Avid - now a household word in the film and TV community.

I googled it and ODC is still around! Here is thier history page.
http://www.optical-disc.com/odchistory.htm