Had a chat with an old timer at the anvil meetup that stuck with me

This guy Ed, been forging since the 70s, told me I was overthinking my heat treat cycles on damascus. He said 'just watch the color and feel the steel, your thermometer is lying to you half the time anyway.' It hit different because I've been chasing perfect numbers in my shop for 3 years and my blades still had issues. Made me wonder how many of you guys rely on digital gauges versus just trusting your eyes?

2 comments

2 Comments

lisa_grant28d ago

Yeah dude totally. Ditched my thermometer last year and my blades got way better.

the_keith28d ago

I mean, 'ditched my thermometer and my blades got way better' sounds kinda extreme. Maybe it's just me but thermometers aren't evil or anything, they're just tools. If you're getting consistent results without one, cool, but I've seen dudes ruin a whole billet because they thought it was at temp just by eye when it was actually way hotter than it looked. Not saying you can't read color right, just that it's not always a straight trade.