well i already tempered this small blade for 2hrs at 400deg, i guess i wont do another cycle
so i should do only once cycle when tempering for a hamon??
the edge on this small knife is setting at .040" right now so it wont take much to grind it down to size, guess i will see tonight what i have. I still couldnt see much of anything in the way of a hamon after i cleaned the blade off. im still real worried that i am missing something here!!!
thanks
steve
Steve I didnt mean to confuse you , You can still get a great hamon with 2 cycles
or even 3 . I usually speak from the view That I forge a lot of exotic folded steels and
after forging the carbon level is down to .70 or so . You definately need to have fun
when making blades otherwise whats the point . I always have fun . Doing hamons is a
relativly complicated process to a new maker . The greatest part about finally getting
something right is when finally hit a beauty, second most fun is figuring how exactly
you did it ? A hamon is like an artists canvas you never know what you will get .
You can perfect certain types of hamons , and there are many, but its extremely hard if
not impossibly to get that same "hamon" its like a painting. the more attention you pay
to certain details the better it looks ! although not all the time .I have had many
failures
That can make you want to quit or stop for a while .
I can do reasonably about 6 distinct types pretty well . The the beauty of knifemaking
and working with steel is learning . You never get too good to learn or too young to
start , and then pass the information on to someone else. There are many tecniques
about the process , even the japanese who pretty much reinvented the
chinese ,method most of them disagree on many issues but, they all seem to make
good things happen with steel. The whole thing is a learning process. I have learned
in my old age ERR, maturity to always take your time . Be patient . Heck sometimes it
takes me months to make certain blades ! I took me quite a while to learn some things but, I was having a good time while I was doing it ...... Good luck Bubba