A couple of questions about 1095

[Omega Leather Works]

In terms of very small blades (1 1/2" or less) is it possible to get a hamon? I understand that the purpose for differentially ht'ing is lost on such a small blade, but I'm just thinking about looks.

Also, on such a small thin blade is it safer to water/brine quench than it normally would be? Am I likely to still break the blade, even though it's so small?

 

[Brian Avila]

I have found that the smaller the blades get the harder it is to get movement to the hamon. For the smaller blades it turns into just a line. The geometry of the blade as well as the heat and how much clay really do play a role into the hamon. I don't have a pic of a small thin blade but even with some clay on it (santinite) the hamon ended up way back in the beginning of the handle area.

The picture that I am attaching the blade is under 3" maybe around 2.5" so a little bigger than yours. And it was really blobby, compared to what I put on with clay. Have have since switched to using Rutlands, so we will see what the next knife like this has for a hamon that I am working on right now, but I made the blade a little longer and wider to see if that would help.

As far as the quenching goes, I have tried water and Parks 50 with my 1095 blades, small and large. And I know there are a lot of smiths out there that can do it in water/brine quench and not have any problems. My success rates for quenching in water/brine was like 25%, not worth it to me, so I went to Parks for all my 1095. It really is hard to argue with just using Parks 50 in my opinion.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Thanks man. Parks 50... Yeah, I'm just gonna have to get some.

Really interesting blade, and lovely handle btw. I like it.

A side question-

After reading through Cashens posts regarding normalizing I'm kinda confused.

When is normalizing necessary? Is it always necessary, or only if you forge, or other circumstances?

I ask because he explains how to do it, then explains that annealing is the next step. If you buy annealed steel and stock remove, do you still need to normalize at some point before HT?

 

[Brian Avila]

You only need to normalize/anneal when you are forging. And you really have to be careful about what you mean sometimes too. There are people who use the words interchangeably and well as use them when they talk about thermal cycling to reduce grain size as well.

If you buy already annealed steel say from New Jersey Steel Baron, you don't need to do anything to it before you grind it. However, you want to start thinking about thermal cycling to reduce the grain size to make the best knife you can. Most of the time when you buy steel bar stock, it will be annealed.

Which one in the picture would you rather have?

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Thanks for that. It's what I suspected, but things really get confusing.

In the pic... What are the upper, darker layers in all but the factory example?

 

[Brian Avila]

Bigger grain sizes.

The multiple, descending temps, reduce the size of the grains each time. I believe that it takes more that jus the three cycles to get the small grain growth. Break a drill bit and take a look sometime.