cutting on slightly marked lacquer surfaces

[cymbalism]

does anyone know if you can still cut on acetates where the surface isnt completely shiny clean? i recently acquired a stack of blanks and some of the surfaces have marks on one side. not like scratches or gouges but definately marks.

just checking - i dont want to ruin or dull my stylus but i'd hate to waste a blank

[cohearent]

Hi,

It really depends on what you are using them for. I cut refs on blanks with marks. If they aren't deep you usually won't hear them. If records are made from them, the defects will show on the pressing. I don't think stylus wear is an issue unless they are gouges.

[cymbalism]

some of them kinda look like they were rubbed on so they have scratches on them but they're not so deep you can feel them. i'll give it a shot and see how it goes - thanks!

[mossboss]

Hey Adajian
Have a think about it for a moment
What do you do when you cut?
You remove a bit of the lacquer so as to make a groove don't you?
Where does the stylus play? Down in the groove
How much of the surface area is remaining? In a tight cut not much
So given that you only have surface scuff's and only cut dubs Not an issue at all As the other poster said they will be visible on the plates as well as the records pressed from such plates
Any scratces that are deeper than you depth of cut will be audible particularly if across the cut
So IMO if you are to look out for deep ones avoid them you should be A OK
Cheers

[Didier S]

I dont cut on blanks with these pops on there. I save the unsuable copies for test cuts. i´ve ruined enough many cutting needles not being carefull enough to check the surface before cutting. These Apollo blank boxes i receive, 7" 10" & 12"´s, have usuallly 10-20% damaged sides. Does anyone deal with the same problem ?

[cohearent]

I use hundreds of Apollo lacquers in a year. I might get one reject in a box of 25) 14". It tends to be higher in 10" and 12" but not 20%. Are you using their "best quality" blanks? I only use masters (no drive hole). No dubs.

[Didier S]

yeah almost no problem with the masters, dubs i´m talkin about

[dietrich10]

yes dubs very often first drop of cutterhead gives some chip pickup issues...but then i flip it and fine...sometimes one side not useable

with masters i often find the bottom 14" of the box lacquer can have issues and i often do not use it for official cut just test

[mossboss]

Hey All
Generally the masters are not an issue they are well made and well packed it is rare that you get more than one or even 2 dud ones as Kevin says I confirm his statement as well
The dub plates are and have allways been an issue
They are of different "stuff" There has been a number of post's on this right here over the last few months or at least a year or so
In my view the "gung" they put in there so as to make them un-usable for masters is the cause of the problem
It appears that they add something to the mix so as to make this things completely useless for plating on, even though they look allright
We suspect that is something conductive in the material it seems to do exactly what they want make them useless for masters
One gets plating "burns" on the nickel assuming that the silvering process has been succesfull which sometimes is not
No need to elaborate The choice is simple, just like the local Lo-Cost restaurant
Todays Choice: "Take it or Leave it"
Cheers