Rant: Is using a jig for forge welding cheating or smart?

I spent 3 hours last Tuesday trying to forge weld a billet of 1084 and 15n20 freehand and my layers came apart at the edges every single time. Finally broke down and built a simple clamping jig out of angle iron and it held everything tight on the first heat. Do you guys consider jigs a crutch that skips real skill or just working smarter?

2 comments

2 Comments

dakota4151mo ago

Nah, that's just working smart man.

kelly3851mo ago

My old boss used to say the same thing about me spending 20 minutes figuring out a shortcut in Excel instead of doing the boring manual work like everyone else. It's true though, if you can cut the drudge work down to half the time, that's just being smart about how you spend your energy. I've seen too many people burn out grinding through stuff the hard way when there was a simpler method right in front of them. Working smart doesn't mean you're lazy, it means you respect your own time enough to find a better way. Eventually all those little saved minutes add up to hours and days you get back for the things that actually matter.