The Mysteries of the Hamon

wmhammond

wmhammond

Well-Known Member
Morning Gents. Seeking a little help on a Hamon issue. I use almost exclusively 1075 or W-2 when I am making a hamon. I take the heat up to the 1450* - 1465* range and always quench in Parks 50. My polish procedure does vary but I don't think that's the problem. Here are examples of of three knives. The Karambit has a beautiful, highly refined Hamon with lots of detail and activity. The other two were clayed up the same way as the karambit but instead of the detail I get just a wavy line even though the clay was put on in the detail. Can anyone weigh in on why I get these different results doing what I think are the same?IMG_3439.jpgIMG_3440.jpgIMG_3636.jpgIMG_1917.jpg
 
I have been chasing the hamon mystery myself. The only help I can offer is clay thickness. The thinner it's applied and will stay on the blade the better activity I get. The thicker clay let's everything run together.

I am going to watch this thread to see what the more experienced guy's have to say.
 
I'm not one of the big guys, but I'll add my input anyway. Blade thickness and thickness of clay has a major part to play. The thing that took me the longest to figure out is that the clay retains more heat, not less heat in the area. So if you have a thin blade with a big glob of clay the heat with push down the blade and just give you a wavy line. When claying thinner blades use less clay and keep your "legs" thin. On thicker blades you can use a little more clay at the top. Another thing is that you do not want a soak at 1460 too long as it will also push the hamon down, 10-15 min tops. One last thing, a lot 9f the detail is not very deep in the steel, so quenching when the blade is as close to finished will preserve a lot of the finer detail. I've done a lot of experimenting with w2 and 1095. I think I have a bar of 1075 that I'll try soon. Hope this helps
 
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