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Can 1075 steel have a Hamon?

Tom Lewis

Tom Lewis

Joined
Feb 24, 2000
Messages
1,882
I have been using 26c3 steel with a clay Hamon but due to banding problems I am looking for another steel to use. I have heard that 1075 steel will get a Hamon when it is clay tempered so I got some 1075 steel and tried it. I treated the 1075 steel the same way I had been treating the 26c3 steel. I rough ground it, put the clay on, heated in my Paragon oven to 1475 degrees for ten minutes, quenched in Parks 50, then tempered at 400 degrees for two hours twice. I then finished the blade and etched in FeCl acid and polished with 1500 silicon Carbide powder.
With the 1075 steel I didn't get any kind of a Hamon or temper line.
So, did I do something wrong, any suggestions.
One thing I have thought of is that maybe the 1075 steel I got is not 1075 steel. But I have a lot of confidence in the steel supplier so I doubt that is the problem.
I also tried 1095 steel, and I did get a Hamon with that steel.
 
Hey Tom,

Did you get a data sheet that shows the composition with the 1075 ? Maybe it's got some alloying element that is stopping the hamon from forming...
Yeah I know 1075 is just supposed to be iron and carbon, but who knows!
 
Yes, 1075 will get a hamon where did you get it from?. I used a piece of .25" Aldo's 1075 last year to try a brine quench and it made a beautiful hamon but the idiot doing the claying got a few stress cracks. Your heat treating numbers are very close to what I used. I've never played with 26c3 to be able to make a comparison.
 
For me, getting good hamon has been tricky. I've had to experiment with the heat treating protocol for just about every steel I've tried.

There are a lot of variables ie: everyone's ovens are slightly different, some steels need more pre heat treatment thermal cycles than others and the level of manganese can vary from lot to lot. You want as little manganese as possible.
 
You need low manganese as Robert said. Some 1075 has low manganese, but not all 1075 does!
 
Thanks for the suggestions. The 1075 I got has .550 Manganese. I don't know if that's high or low but maybe that is the problem.
 
Manganese in 1075 is normally .4-.9%, NJSB specs .1-.5% on their cert sheets; they look to be around .43-.49% recently? They indicate that they had the chemistry tweaked to allow hamons.

The clay thickness may be important, too. Too thick or too thin can effect it. Longer soak time (and higher temp) may let the steel get to temp fully (even under the clay) and the clay may not slow down the quench enough at the spine to make it have a temper line/hamon. From what I have seen with hamons, lower temperatures, and thinner clay seem to work better? I have 2 bars of W2 here to try out that I bought a few years ago, but haven't gotten to play with it yet. From what I have read, there are a lot of variables!
 
Thanks, I found the Certs for this steel and it has .680 Manganese. That is probably the problem.
Taz, I hope you will post your results on the W-2 steel.
In a few days I will post my results using Aldo" W-2 steel and following his normalization cycles.
 
It's also Also W 2 from a few years back.
 
If you want to try Aldo’s low Mn 1075 I’ve had good results with the activity and crispness of the hamons I get using it. Haven’t had any issues with heat treatment on his 1075 as far as I remember. But I ordered all of mine back in 2018.

I do get a tiny bit of banding along the hamon with it. It’s always more visible in at least one small section of the hamon but never along the whole thing for me

I’ve tried 1450° and 1475°. I had better activity with the 1475°.

I wish I could tell you what the Mn content of my batch is but it’s been so long and I don’t have a receipt to get the heat# and ask. I would drive from central NJ to their office to pick up steel, never thought of asking for documentation or anything at the time.
 
For some reason this did not post this morning???

1075 should get a hamon if it is low manganese. However, much of it has close to .75% Mn, so it does not make a vivid hamon.

Did you do a final etch after polishing?
Was the Parksv#50 at room temp? Heating it will reduce the hamon. Parks is supposed to be used at room temp.
 
The certs for this 1075 steel show manganese at .680, so that is probably too high for a hamon.
the Parks 50 was at room temperature.
I didn't do a final etch after polishing.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Hoss, I am using 1095, and am getting a hamon, but it doesn't look as good as the hamon I got with 26c3 steel.
 
Larrin, I hesitate to say where I got it because I don't want to give the supplier a bad name. I think Alpha is a great place to buy steel. They also have free shipping. I have bought a lot of 26c3 steel from them and most does not have banding but lately the last several pieces I have used do have the banding.
Do you know of another source for 26c3 steel?
Larrin, thanks for your interest. You have really helped knifemakers in a big way.
 
Some steel with the same composition is being produced by one or more other steel companies and is being marketed as 26C3. Alpha only sells the Uddeholm 26C3 product.
 
I've only bought 26c3 from Alpha, every blade had banding. I didn't mind. Most of the time I etch it.
 
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