Had a guy at the forge swap tell me I was burning my steel on purpose

Last Saturday I was at a community forge in Austin and this old timer walked up while I was working a piece of 1095. He watched me for about 2 minutes and then said "you're just making sparks for fun, not for a blade." I was trying to get an even heat for a kitchen knife and he thought I was overheating it on purpose. Turns out he was right that my propane forge was running too rich and I was wasting fuel. He showed me how to adjust the air mix in about 30 seconds. Has anyone else had a stranger call them out on something dumb like that and it actually helped?

3 comments

3 Comments

mary_west23d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, you were just burning up steel for nothing and he fixed it in 30 seconds? That's wild. I once had a guy at a flea market tell me my grinding belt was loaded backwards on my 2x72. I'd been running it that way for like two years. Felt like a total idiot but he showed me the right direction and now I don't burn through belts every week. Some folks just have a gift for spotting dumb mistakes. Dude probably saved you a ton of gas too.

joel_jones23d ago

Mary, that reminds me of my buddy who ran a torch with a clogged tip for six months until a kid at Ace showed him how to clean it.

wood.faith23d ago

Is it funny how the little tricks end up being the biggest game changers? I swear half of learning any trade is just having someone come along and point out the one thing you've been doing backwards for years. It's like that with everything too, not just tools. I had a buddy who couldn't figure out why his mower kept dying until a neighbor watched him for 30 seconds and said "you're choking it every time you start it." Sometimes we just get so used to our own dumb routines we can't see straight anymore.