Took me 5 years to admit my mentor was right about forge welding temps

I used to think I could just eyeball it. Get the steel looking hot enough and smack it together. Kept having welds fail on me for months. Finally broke down and got a digital thermometer probe for my forge. Turns out I was running about 150 degrees too cold the whole time. That old guy kept telling me to watch for the specific color in low light and I blew him off. Now I check every single time. Anyone else stubborn about taking advice until you proved yourself wrong first?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_avery12d ago

Man that color trick is the real deal once you actually learn to see it.

grace_allen12d ago

The blue to gold thing took me almost three weeks to finally see. Once it clicked though I started noticing it everywhere, even in shadows where I never paid attention before. I've been using it on my own photos and the difference is night and day, especially with skin tones. It's like someone turned on a light switch in my brain that I didn't know was there.

elizabethhayes10d ago

I mean, is it really that serious though? I've been getting by fine with the old eyeball method for years and my welds hold up okay, but I guess @the_avery would probably have a thing or two to say about that. It's not like every weld needs to be a museum piece anyway, right?