That Saturday the quench tank nearly caught fire, best day ever?

Last month I had a day where everything went wrong, but I still loved it. I was heat treating a batch of 8 chisels and my quench oil started smoking way worse than usual, then a spike in the fire pot threw scale everywhere. Took me 3 tries to get the temp right on the second batch, and I burned my forearm pretty good on the edge of the forge. But somehow by 6 PM I had 14 finished tools with clean edges and no warps, which never happens for me. Is a chaotic day that ends with solid work better than a smooth day that ends with mediocre results, or am I just being weird?

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anna71715d ago

Burned my left wrist last June on the same kind of splash back. Have a dent in the workbench from throwing my glove at it. But you know what, those 14 tools were probably the straightest batch you've made. The chaos forces you to watch every step twice. Smooth days make you lazy, you rush the quench or skip checking the edge. I'd take a messy day with good steel over a clean one with crooked edges any time. Just keep a bucket of sand near the tank, saves the shop floor when that oil flares up.