Hick611

I want to learn the craft with basic tools, but I am not striving to be accurate to a specific era. I will build a very basic coal forge with bellows that I will make. I am not interested in power hammers or gas forges. Since light has so much affect on the color, how can I tell the temp? I picture myself working primarily mild, 1095, 45XX type steel. So I think that I will be able to gauge temperature farely close by using a magnet, but is there another way? I some D2 steel rounds from work I would like to play with, but read that it should only be worked above 1700 degrees F. How can I tell when it is that hot?

Hey guys, I am new to the site and new to smithing. I have learned a lot from you guys, thanks for the info. I like to keep things traditional, use little to no electricity, make my own tooling and try to generally prepare myself to be a craftsmen in any scenario regardless of what I may it may not have at my exposal. While learning, how can I read what the temp of my work piece is until I learn what the color looks like. And is the color wheel farely universal from steel to steel? Will high carbon, ms, and tool steel ( say D2 for example) be the same color at the same temp in the same light?