Linearizing for Gum - Questions about Starting Out

gum is so finicky, in my limited experience, it seems like the master (or maybe the mater limited to ~240 for certain colors like black or lighter yellows) is the best route to go, then just change image based on printing variables. once I’m really really good at printing perfect gum prints, I may come back to attempt a calibrated workflow, but for now, I can’t get enough consistency to produce the same chart twice.