Considered cheating?

Gahagan

Well-Known Member
I am working on a knife for a extremely picky customer. Well he wanted a hamon so I sent it to Peters and had a hamon put on it. Well it wasnt prominent enough for the customer. So I took some finger nail polish and traced over the hamon and then reetched it. It is now really prominent. Is this considered wrong? Did I do something frowned upon?
 
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I wouldn't think so, you're not falsely making it look like a hamon, you just carefully re-etched it to get it to stand out more. I would tell the customer exactly what you did, "I just had to etch it again, now it shows up better."

Just my opinion of course.
 
You didn't say what the steel was that you used so maybe that was the only way you could bring out the hamon more. Personally, I'd just tell the customer that you re-etched the blade to bring out the hamon better and let it go at that. It's the trueth.

Doug Lester
 
Thanks. The steel was 1095. I was concerned that I was doing something wrong since I have not heard of it being done. The customer is happy and it turned out real nice so I guess if other makers don't consider it wrong I am goo to go.
 
Yep, just in ingenious way to help "bring out" a hamon. Nothing wrong with that. Creating a false one that way would be wrong but this is the same as polishing different parts of the hamon in different ways as is often done.
Now to be sure we'd need pics of course. ;)
 
I will get some posted soon. My computer is down and I am having to use my iPad so I can't download the pictures to it.
 
If the steel wasn't differentially hardened then it would be dishonest...but since you had the best in the biz (in my opinion) do it, I would have zero problem with this action. The customer wanted the hamon to be more visible and that's what you did for him. Pick customers more carefully next time ;)
 
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