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Ruined a rail bracket last Tuesday because I skipped one heat
Was finishing a set of 6 rail brackets for a buddy's porch rebuild in his shop out in Chehalis, and I got impatient on bracket number 5. Pulled it out of the forge early because the color looked right to me, maybe 100 degrees shy of where it should have been. Went to punch the rivet holes and the whole thing cracked right down the middle. That's 45 minutes of drawing out and shaping gone over a shortcut that saved me maybe 2 minutes. I reworked the last two at proper heat and they came out clean, but I still owe him one bracket or a cold beer. Lesson finally sank in after 5 years at this: the steel tells you when it's ready, not the clock. How do you all judge heat in low light? I've been going by color but I'm wondering if I should just bite the bullet and get a temp stick.
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