and here's the thing about used forging gear, you never really know what you're getting until it's sitting in your shop. I've bought a couple used forges over the years and it's always a gamble, even when the seller seems honest. Those burner issues you're dealing with might be fixable with a new nozzle and some refractory cement, but if the insulation is cracked to hell it's probably never gonna hold heat right. For what it's worth, I'd check if that anvil buyer might flip it after a month or two, people change their minds about heavy things taking up floor space.

You never know, but 'exactly confirmed' feels like a stretch. Those whistleblower claims were pretty vague and never really went anywhere in court from what I remember. Easy to connect dots after the fact, harder to prove they were actually trying to warn anyone about something this big.

lol same energy as when I bought a "pro" tripod that wobbled like a flamingo on roller skates. That $200 filter sounds like it's giving you the solar equivalent of a bad hair day - no amount of photoshop will make those weird spots look intentional. I swear my astro gear budget is just me paying for lessons in humility at this point. Last month I dropped cash on a motorized mount that sounded like a dying robot every time I tried to track the moon. Honestly your filter might be punking you but at least you didn't accidentally fry your whole camera like I did with a $50 solar film that was basically kitchen wrap.

Ever notice how nobody complains about editing out airplane contrails or satellite streaks? Those are real too, but nobody's preaching authenticity about those.

The 15 dollar tube of Winsor & Newton titanium white I wrecked last month is proof. Ended up with crusty dried paint crusted in the bristles because I left it sitting in a cup of water for two days. Those cheap synthetic brushes might survive some abuse, but my good sable ones would be totally ruined if I tried any of those cleaning shortcuts.