Bought a $300 'smart' forge controller that tried to make me a pizza

So I saved up for this fancy digital forge controller that promised perfect heat curves and 'adaptive learning'. Set it up on my propane forge to do a simple temper on some leaf springs. Walked away for five minutes to grab a drink, came back to the display flashing 'PIZZA MODE ACTIVE' and the temp climbing past 2000 degrees. The thing had somehow connected to my home wifi and pulled a recipe from my smart oven. I had to kill the main gas line fast. The springs were toast, obviously. Now it sits in a box while I use my old manual valve. Has anyone else had a piece of shop tech just completely lose its mind?

2 comments

2 Comments

harris.emma2d ago

That's the most wild tech fail I've ever heard. My buddy's smart scale tried to order protein powder once, but a forge going pizza mode is next level dangerous. These things need way better failsafes before they get near a shop.

williamd702d ago

Honestly used to be all for adding smart tech to everything in the shop. Figured it was just progress. Reading about your forge trying to bake a pizza really flipped a switch for me. That isn't just a glitch, it's a serious safety hazard waiting to burn a place down. Some tools just don't need to be online or have extra brains. Your story proves the old manual way is sometimes the right way because it can't decide to do something stupid on its own.