A farrier in Athens, Ohio asked me why I temper at 400 and I couldn't give him a good answer
I was at a farm outside Athens, Ohio two weeks ago waiting on a horse to settle, and the farrier there asked me why I temper my punches at 400F instead of 450. I told him it was just how I learned, and he nodded and said nothing else, but it stuck with me the whole drive home. I went back through my notes and found I've been running the same recipe since 2011 without ever testing a lower or higher range on my own steel. So last weekend I ran three chisels at 375, 400, and 450 and whacked them through a piece of 1/2 inch mild to see what happened. The 375 one chipped at the edge on the fourth hit and the 450 is still holding up fine after twenty. Makes me wonder how many of my habits are just passed down and never checked. How do you all pick your temper temps, do you test them or go off what you read somewhere?