See My Video On Embossing With A Sapphire StYlus

My embossed records sound good as pressed vinyl records with no hiss clicks or pops.

 Embossed lathe cuts have been recorded on polycarbonate sheets of plastic for many years since the 1980's, they have earned a bad reputation since then, because they were always embossed with a tungsten carbide steel stylus.

Many have tried over the years different techniques to improve embossing, by using a heat lamp, Turtle wax, furniture polish, motor oil, DW40. I don't use any of that, I emboss dry, and at room temperature and it works great. 

Lighter fluid should only be use for cleaning the disc before embossing, the peel-off protective film leaves an invisible residue which causes scoring with the Westrex stereo cutter head's advance ball, if you use any other cutter head, no need to clean the polycarbonate.

A lathe cut, If recorded at a louder volume will cause the record to skip randomly, the same goes for stereo recorded embossed records, they will skip randomly. The average level of a microgroove LP's recorded at 33 rpm is 7cm lateral cut, is the same level.

 I use for recording my lathe cuts. Many have asked me, is there's a difference in the sound quality between black polycarbonate and clear? the answer is NO.

Anti-skating should be adjusted for best results. If your playback stylus is 3 grams, the the anti-skate adjustment should be 3 grams also.