Wondering about cutting 78's with NOS blanks I have

[prestok10]

I ran across some NOS 12" blanks on Ebay a while back, and just got around the trying some cutting on my Presto K-10. The blanks have a yellow label that says "National Hollywood" in black, and the material is a dark reddish color instead of black. When I cut, I get more of a "fluff" than a thread, and the resulting grooves have a bit of hiss, crackle, and pop when played back. I've tried using a heat lamp to soften the surface a bit, as mentioned on this forum, and it does help some. I'm wondering if its partly the strange red material - what is it, and how might it differ from the usual black lacquer? I also have a couple of Wilcox-Gay blanks that are red, but this is a much darker color. I was looking into heating my stylus, but thought I'd try the cheaper heat lamp idea first. I'm trying for standard 78 grooves that I can play with a 3 mil stylus, and they seem to play OK on my Crosley retro player with the Crosley 78 needle (should be 3 mil), but not on some older 78 players. Not wind-up antiques, but newer players than that. The needle won't stay in the groove, so I assume it may not be cutting deep enough.

[cymbalism]

Be very careful with heating your stylus when cutting dried out acetates. One bit of the fluffy chip coming off and getting stuck on your stylus is all it takes for some smoke to puff out and possibly start a fire.

No fun, I've had the puff of smoke happen two times trying old acetates and now I just hang them on my walls.

[mossboss]

Tommie
Get down the pharmacy buy a small container of Castor Oil (don't drink it OK! Unless of course you are constipated Ha ) give them a good coating with a lump of cotton wool both sides
In a standard Apollo lacquer box cut a potato in say 4 pieces and place them in the edges of the box at the corners
Leave them alone in the sealed box for a week or so than wipe them of the excess oil if any and they will be fine
The potatoes add any moisture they need the oil softens them up
Easy and it works
Cheers

[cymbalism]

Tommie
Get down the pharmacy buy a small container of Castor Oil (don't drink it OK! Unless of course you are constipated Ha ) give them a good coating with a lump of cotton wool both sides
In a standard Apollo lacquer box cut a potato in say 4 pieces and place them in the edges of the box at the corners
Leave them alone in the sealed box for a week or so than wipe them of the excess oil if any and they will be fine
The potatoes add any moisture they need the oil softens them up
Easy and it works
Cheers

Look at MacGyver over here thanks for the tip mossy

[EposLab]

Did someone tried this way? Is it working?