Delta Handmade Knives
Well-Known Member
Thank you very much Andy! I am completely addicted to the hamon and the knife gods have been kind to me so far.Those Hamons are great! I've been struggling to get a good one with 1075 and you nailed it on your first try. But I now have some W2 that I will try next.
What's your etch process to bring them out?
Andy
From what I have been able to gather W-2 is the bee's knees for Hamons. Where did you order your W-2 from? I got mine from NJSB.
Since I am a noobie, I am going in slow to the etch. I use the standard 3 parts distilled water to 1 part FC. Once the blades have been cleaned with acetone and then with denatured alcohol (that may be overkill but hey..) I dip into the FC mix for 10 sec. Remove and blast with ammonia based glass cleaner and scrub with a shop towel pretty good, then I polish both sides with Flitz for a few minutes, then clean off the blade and see what I got. Then back to etching again for 10 sec. I repeat this process as many times as necessary to arrive at the look I like. My etch time is never more than 10 sec each time. I too am just experimenting and trying to find the right balance of things myself. 2 or 3 dips have thus far been good enough but I am going to explore more dips to see what it looks like.
I heat treated three more blades today but I also had a ton of leather work to do and get out the door so I didn't get much more than a quick cleanup after tempering and hit them with wd-40 until I can get back to them later this week. Tried some more busy designs with the clay so we'll see what's there after I get them hand sanded. Pictures to follow.