Hamon feedback

[Michael Black]

Talk me off the ledge here!

Just got this one all polished up and it's just too close to the cutting edge, but I'm hesitant to write it off as a total loss after all the work getting to this point, and because I really like the blade overall.

Do I:
A) Re-heat treat it, despite how thin it is? It's finish ground at this point, down to basically a zero edge.
B) Throw it on the scrap pile and weep.
C) Put a handle on it and use it myself at home.
D) Other

Advice or condolences welcome.

 

[Richard338]

C and D. It has a hardened edge all along so no sense in scrapping it.
The question is, do you think you understand why you got that result? How much did you grind pre-heat treat, what type of steel is it, how did you do your clay and heat treat, etc. If you think you know what to try next, then make another and see if you're right.

 

[Joshua Fisher]

You could turn it into a slicer, grind the edge back narrower until you are about .030-.040 at the edge then re-harden trying to learn from this attempt. I will check a blade after tempering by taking a pass or two with a 120 belt then etch to make sure the hamon is where I want it. If my clay was too thick or too low and the hamon runs lower than I’d like at this point I’ll have an idea and likely haven’t thinned the blade out too much that I can’t easily re-harden the blade. Even if you keep it for yourself you’ll likely run into softer steel after only a handful of sharpening sessions.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I think you will be OK to finish it and use it.

 

[Michael Black]

You could turn it into a slicer, grind the edge back narrower until you are about .030-.040 at the edge then re-harden trying to learn from this attempt. I will check a blade after tempering by taking a pass or two with a 120 belt then etch to make sure the hamon is where I want it. If my clay was too thick or too low and the hamon runs lower than I’d like at this point I’ll have an idea and likely haven’t thinned the blade out too much that I can’t easily re-harden the blade. Even if you keep it for yourself you’ll likely run into softer steel after only a handful of sharpening sessions.

Thanks for the advice everyone, I do think I'll try knocking the edge back and re-hardening it, as much as it pains me to do that. I just don't need another chef knife in my own kitchen, so I'd rather take the chance of getting a good knife out of it. Plus, I clearly need the practice!

I found a pic I took of the clay layout on this blade that gave me this result, so I think I need to go a bit higher and thinner on the clay next time. Any other feedback that might make a difference?

https://imgur.com/a/aSXClIa

 

[Michael Black]

C and D. It has a hardened edge all along so no sense in scrapping it.
The question is, do you think you understand why you got that result? How much did you grind pre-heat treat, what type of steel is it, how did you do your clay and heat treat, etc. If you think you know what to try next, then make another and see if you're right.

I don't think it was a factor on how close it got to the edge, but I definitely think I should have ground it a lot thinner before hardening. It was thiiiiick because I hate warping. Otherwise, like I just said in my other post, I think I need to go higher and thinner next time.

 

[Dimitar Popov]

Thanks for the advice everyone, I do think I'll try knocking the edge back and re-hardening it, as much as it pains me to do that. I just don't need another chef knife in my own kitchen, so I'd rather take the chance of getting a good knife out of it. Plus, I clearly need the practice!

I found a pic I took of the clay layout on this blade that gave me this result, so I think I need to go a bit higher and thinner on the clay next time. Any other feedback that might make a difference?

https://imgur.com/a/aSXClIa

If this is the clay pattern that you used I suspect that you didn't heat it enough at the portion where the hamon is very low. You heated it enough at the tip though . What method of heating you use?

And I would say that the important thing is to understand why this blade hardened in such way and how you can make it properly. Saving the blade is not so important even if it's hard to let go all the effort put in it.


Good luck