lino print

I've finished part 3 of the lino triptych (always wanted to use that word) that i began last year. It's the square one in the middle, 30x30cm. Needs a bit of tidying up.

My lino-cuts are gradually getting neater but something's gone very wrong with tools lately; mine were all blunt so i ordered some more from ebay - what i thought would be years' worth of size 1's - but found the wings of the blades were sort of facing forward instead of backward. So i returned them saying they must be seconds, then bought a box from Fred Aldous. But these were the same. I think a different company is making the blades and they just don't cut. At great expense i bought a 1mm, wooden handled gouge from GreatArt made by Dastra. This is a joy to use but doesn't cut as finely as i'm used to. Does anyone know what happened to the old cutters that fitted into a red-plastic handle? I used to put the 1's and 3's into a vice, heat them up and squeeze them with pliers to get fine cuts.