Watch out with oven tempering. The old way, watching steel colors in the forge, caught problems we miss now.

3 comments

3 Comments

Have you ever seen a piece fail because the oven temp was off? I heard about a blade that cracked after tempering, and it was probably from a missed flaw. The old timers watching the forge colors would've spotted that right away. Makes you wonder what else we're missing with new tools.

diana872mo ago

Old methods had their own problems though. People's eyes see colors differently under various lighting, and a draft could change the forge temp fast. Modern ovens with good calibration take the guesswork out. Sure a faulty sensor can ruin a batch, but that's a maintenance check, not a flaw in the tool itself. We probably catch more issues now with even heating and digital logs. It's not about missing things, it's about different kinds of risks.

milarodriguez2mo ago

My old shop teacher swore by the forge colors too. I get what @diana87 says about the oven, but I still do a quick visual check on the steel before it goes in.