Finally pulled off a clean 12-inch gather after months of fighting it in my home studio.
Three years ago I could barely manage a six-inch bubble without it getting wonky, but last week I finally got the heat base and rotation just right on my Carlisle torch and the whole thing just flowed onto the pipe like it was nothing.
It's funny how the hardest skills often click into place when you stop forcing it. You see the same thing with people learning to bake sourdough or tune a carburetor. The process just becomes part of your hands after enough failed tries.