Damn, that's a solid wake-up call. Rustic =/= sturdy.

Hold up though, a fresh blade at a hardware store is NOT 4 bucks anymore. Not for a long time. I bought a pack of two name brand blades last week and it was almost 12 dollars. You must be remembering prices from like 2015 or something. Even the cheap no name brands are pushing 6 or 7 bucks for a single blade now. And sure, a guy with enough experience can hack through anything with a beat up hatchet, but that doesnt mean the rest of us should have to. Dull tools make work DANGEROUS, not just slow. You end up forcing cuts and slipping, which is how people get hurt for no good reason.

Honestly, that's one of those lessons that sticks with you after you watch $500 worth of metal turn into scrap. I do the same thing now with my ladle, I leave it in the furnace while I finish prepping the mold so it's just radiating heat when I'm ready to tap. Cold ladle is a killer on ductile especially, I'll also give it a quick wipe with a torch if I'm working in a drafty shop. Ngl I've gotten lazy on small pours before and paid for it every time.

Dust killing electronics that fast? That's wild, never figured grime could take out capacitors like that.

Motion detectors alone? That's basically just a fancy light switch.