Hamon Heat Treat Recipe

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Skiller1nc

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I posted in the hamon thread a few days ago but didn't get any responses and figured this could be deserving of its on thread anyway.

I am trying to figure out the hamon process in depth. I've got my clay application and sanding/polishing steps where I want them. Now I want to focus on heat treating.

As far as getting the most activity out of these (w2,1075,26c3) steels, I am assuming we want the smallest grain size possible that will still fully harden, so do a thermal cycle or 2, maybe 3? We also want to aus low as possible as well correct? And as far as the microstructure pre HT, what would be best? Do we want a long soak (10 min) in the oven or more like 3-5 minutes?
 
Several days ago I posted a thread, "Hamon's quick and easy". You can look at that and see how I heat treated. I used 26c3 steel from Alpha. It comes ready to heat treat.
 
Tom Lewis said:
Several days ago I posted a thread, "Hamon's quick and easy". You can look at that and see how I heat treated. I used 26c3 steel from Alpha. It comes ready to heat treat.
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I saw this thread when you posted it. I'm trying to go into more detail than you went into there. For example, would 1440 or 1500 yield better results than the 1475 you used. Would a shorter soak be better? Would some thermal cycling for even more grain refinement ( I know 26c3 comes ready to go but still) possibly be helpful? I am also asking about some more general science like is a pearlitic microstructure better to start the heat treatment from than say a DET or temper anneal?
 
Those are good questions. I used Larrin's "Knife Engineering" book to get my heat treat information.
 
Today I heat treated some 26c3 blades and also heat treated some coupons. After a 10 min. soak at 1475 degrees, I quenched in Parks 50. The result was a RC hardness of 67. after several attempts (I had to use a sledge hammer and really hit hard) I broke the hardened piece and it had very fine grain. The other coupon was tempered at 400 degrees for two hours twice. After tempering it's RC hardness was 62.
 
Personally, I've moved over to forge HT by eye for hamon. Clay, then try to focus on bringing just the edge up to temp. Takes a couple of tries to get the line where you want it, kind of. Always a bit of trial and error the way I do it.
 
In general, lower temperatures result in better hamons, but I find if you go too low, you get just a Grey wash in the steel. I haven’t found my optimum temp with 26c3. I was experimenting, but work took off before I finished those projects last year. Finer grain size results in bette4 Hamon too.
 
I have found that it takes some experimenting. Everyone's equipment is going to be slightly different and ovens are going to run slightly different temps.
W2 is best for hamon in my hands and with my equipment. My protocol is: Normalize at 1750 X 10min then 1450 X 10 min X 2. Then I Austenitize at 1475 for 15 min and quench in Parks 50

26C3 is good but not as consistent in my hands. I tried lower aus temps for better hamon but have gone back to 1475 recently.
 
Robert Erickson said:
I have found that it takes some experimenting. Everyone's equipment is going to be slightly different and ovens are going to run slightly different temps.
W2 is best for hamon in my hands and with my equipment. My protocol is: Normalize at 1750 X 10min then 1450 X 10 min X 2. Then I Austenitize at 1475 for 15 min and quench in Parks 50

26C3 is good but not as consistent in my hands. I tried lower aus temps for better hamon but have gone back to 1475 recently.
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Can you recommend a current source for W2 bar stock?
 
I do hamon quenches using the forge, too. All you want is the edge at the proper temperature. Even a sword can be pumped through the forge and then quenched with good results.
 
Great news, thanks guys. I'm assembling a new grinder and can't wait to tackle some new projects.
 
Aldo has some very good w2, its got some problems related to the spheroidized annealed microstructure as received but normalizing at a high temp solves that, and then its a very good steel
 
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