First succesful hamon

Lerch

Lerch

Well-Known Member
After a bit of failure on my first try i was successful the second time around trying to differentially harden and blade and produce a hamon. The steel is Aldo's 1095 1/8", i ground the blade to about .040" on the blade since after my first experience i knew i needed to leave it a little thick to account for the scale and decarb removal. Anyway i ground the blade to 320grit and then normalized it in 3 cycles. After this i ground the blade to 400grit to remove any of the scale left over from the normalization. I then applied the satanite clay and HT'ed at 1450deg for a 5 min soak time and quenched in Parks 50 oil heated to 110deg. I cleaned the blade off and tempered at 400deg for 2hrs.

after sanding to 700grit i could see the hamon if i turned the blade in the right light. I sanded the blade to 15000grit and then after a series of 30 second to 1 minute etches in PCB Etchant (Ferric Chloride) i was fairly happy with the temper lines but decided to try something just a bit more. I sanded the blade down to 2000grit and etched for 2min straight, wiped down the blade with windex and then placed it in my Lyman brass ammo tumbler with pecan hull media for about 2hrs. These are the results, im pretty happy with it. After HT'ing the blade i read where certain steels produce temper lines either behind, on or before the clay line and 1095 tends to produce a temper line before the clay edge which is why you see the temper lines so close to the blade edge, i will take that in to consideration next time around. any way here are the pics

finishedhamon2.jpg


finishedhamon.jpg


let me know what you think or how i can improve, cant wait to try it on a bigger blade, this one is only about 3"

thanks
steve
 
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I like that design. The hamon is pretty cool as well. I did my first a few weeks ago with Admirals 1075/1080. Wasn't all that happy with the looks and like you, I experimented with a lot of different things. I think I'll stay with the rubbed satin finishes for now.
 
Looks good and you're well on your way into the realm of frustration and jubilation. Start with a plan and remember, impatience is your enemy. keep notes along the way, that will help with the next project.

Rudy
 
If you want to get alot more out of the hamon, knock all of the oxides off with FFF pumice. Then etch it for about 2 hours in vinegar. Repeat about 6 times. Rub the heck out of the hamon itself with the pumice and below the hamon line toward the edge. Above the hamon, use worn 2500grit paper or Mother's metal polish or flitz. Mother's is best, followed by old paper, followed by flitz. IF you use one of the past polishes, make absolutely certain that you don't let any of the past get onto and/or below the hamon itself. I have even taped the hamon off like you would a body panel for painting.

If you want great hamons, get the specs on the 1095 and make sure it has manganese in the 30pt range (below 40 for sure). Even better, get low manganese 1075, W2, or W1. In that order, but W2 holds a better edge, so for a knife sized blade, it is my favorite. Bigger blades, 1075.

You will be pleasantly surprised if you degrease that and etch in vinegar and such as I suggested. There is a LOT there to bring out. I promise.

Kevin
 
oh yeah - maybe I missed it - what did you quench with?

I like to do an interrupted quench, hot water for 3sec then into oil.

You can get almost as much hamon using Parks 50 or Houghton Bioquench (which is canola-based but faster). Edited to add - oops, I see you used Parks 50. Sorry, didn't need to suggest it to you, you already use it...

It is really great stuff, I think. SAFE and still gives good results (not a lot of broken blades).

kc
 
well i ordered some 2F and 5F pumice paste from brownells on friday that i was going to use on the entire blade area, but your saying i should only use it on and below the hamon or only above the hamon? sorry i just wanted to clarify before i went to scrubbin :)

after i give the blade a scrub with the pumice paste ( the whole blade??) i soak it in vinegar, is that white vinegar??


thanks
steve
 
Here's a question - I use pumice all the time in woodworking, love it for finishing a finish, but is it hard enough to work on steel? How does it compare to grease-less compounds?
 
I don't know about using Pumice paste, I use something a lot easier to get and much cheaper to pull my hamons out, regular old red rouge used in buffing, I scrape off enough to cover the blade after a coat of WD-40, using this slurry, I basically polish the lower area of the blade about where the line "should" be, and on top of the line itself, after etching I usually can see the line, or at least a line. Sometimes the line I see isn't the real Hamon, I don't know how that happens, but after a little rubbing and a lot of paitience it's usually there, it may take additional sanding, where I may take it back to 180 grit and all the way up to my finished grit, then re-etch and re-do the WD-40 and red rouge, after that, a little Flitz along the lower part of the blade and it's done. I never take a knife that I want a hamon on back to the grinder, some folks can do that, it's just never worked for me. Also, NEVER use a buffer on a blade that you want a hamon, it will cover it up, getting it back is (I think) possible, but very difficult. I do a lot of hand work on my blades, maybe too much, but I know I get the finish I want, and it generally comes out as expected, Rex
 
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