My buddy Mike tried learning on a propane setup and couldn't figure out why his blades kept cracking until he spent a summer working with an old timer who built a forge from a broken brake drum and a hair dryer. That guy made him heat soak every piece for twice as long as Mike thought was necessary, using nothing but a magnet and the color of the steel to judge temp. Six months later Mike could nail a heat treat by eye that his fancy digital setup still struggles to match. The old ways force you to develop an intuition you just don't get when a screen does all the thinking for you.