That one guy at Quad-State who told me I was welding wrong

Back at Quad-State last fall, this older smith watched me forge-weld a chain link and just goes "you're wasting coal, kid." He walked over, showed me how to crank my fire up hotter and use less flux, and my welds held way better after that. Took maybe 5 minutes of his time but it stuck with me ever since. Anybody else have a random smith give you a tip that changed your whole setup?

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kevin_west1mo ago

The trick with older guys like that is they usually have twenty years of watching people do things the hard way. A five minute fix from someone who's been at it a while saves you a week of figuring it out yourself. Same thing happened to me at the hardware store last month. Guy in the lumber aisle saw me grabbing sandpaper and told me to switch to a different grit for the wood I had. Saved me an afternoon of pointless sanding. People who've made all the mistakes themselves are the best teachers, you just have to let them talk.

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stellanelson1mo ago

Right? But what if the guy's advice is actually outdated, @kevin_west?

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