Spent 3 years hammering cold steel before a old timer set me straight

I used to think you had to heat the metal until it was almost white hot before you could shape it. That's what some YouTube videos showed and I just went with it. One day last fall I was at a swap meet in Tulsa and this 70 year old guy watched me work for a minute. He said 'son, you're burning up your carbon content working it that hot. Look for a dark cherry red instead.' I thought he was crazy but I tried it on a set of tongs I was making. The steel moved way easier and I didn't have to keep reheating every 10 seconds. Now I'm wondering how many other basic things I'm getting wrong. Anybody else have a moment where a simple tip from a old timer changed how you work?

2 comments

2 Comments

king.wyatt4d ago

Soaking at cherry red saves a ton of elbow grease, I learned that the hard way too.

amy_foster794d ago

Oh yeah, I heard cherry red is the magic temp from an old mechanic once, just have to be careful.