Hit 500 knives forged and my timing improved way more than my skill

I keep a tally in the shop notebook and last Tuesday I crossed 500 total blades since I started in 2021. I expected the big jump to be in edge geometry or handle fit, but what actually changed was my heat cycle timing. Around knife 450 I stopped second guessing when to quench and now I just read the color and go. It was like my hands learned before my brain did. Has anyone else noticed a specific milestone where the mental part caught up all at once?

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thomasgonzalez3d ago

Wait, you just read the color and go? That is wild to me. I have been at this for about two years and I still hold my breath every single quench like the steel is gonna yell at me if I get it wrong. The fact that your hands figured out the timing before your brain did around knife 450 is kind of blowing my mind, because I always assumed you had to think your way through every heat. What did it feel like the first time you just went with it and the blade came out right? Did you even trust it at first or did you second guess after the fact?

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