Vent: lacquer shrinkage ruined my last 10 cuts, now I bake everything first

I used to cut straight onto fresh lacquer blanks and think it was fine. Then about 5 weeks ago I engraved a full 12 inch side, let it sit for 2 days, and the grooves literally pulled together in the middle. Playback sounded like a warped 45 stuck at 33 rpm. My mentor from the old shop in Minneapolis always said to let blanks rest at 75 degrees for 48 hours before cutting. I ignored him for 6 months. Last week I ran 3 blanks through the oven at 120 for 20 minutes, cooled them slow, and all 3 came out stable. Anyone else bake their lacquers or am I just paranoid about humidity now?

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