In my shop, I always vein leaves cold or at a black heat. Heating to a dull red is your main problem because the steel yields too easily and grabs the chisel. That soft state is why your lines go uneven and deep every time. You need the metal to fight back a little so you can feel each cut. All the fancy ornamental work I see fails from this same hot method making details messy. Keep the piece cooler and use lighter, repeated taps to build the vein lines slowly.

Yeah the hour count thing is wild lol. I always watch those timelapse videos and it blows my mind how long it takes.

Surface prep makes or breaks that ten-year silicone promise.

Yeah, the part about keeping things friendly is key. My grandma used to watch me after school, so helping her with her iPad feels like nothing. She gets to see her grandkids on video calls, and I get to repay a tiny bit of that care. If I charged her, it would feel wrong. It's not always a business transaction. Sometimes it's just being part of a family where people help each other out.

Ugh, tell me about it. Every decent vintage tool or cool old sign gets snapped up by some online flipper before it even hits the driveway. I found a full set of 70s Craftsman wrenches last month, and the guy said he had three offers from Marketplace buyers the second he took a picture. The hunt is totally gone.