Hamon on a cleaned up axe

Sam Salvati

Sam Salvati

Joined
Aug 6, 2007
Messages
5,060
Today I was cleaning and polishing and sharpening an old axe, and to my surprise I find a hamon! Well not really a hamon per se, but a quench line. I was polishing at 220, and I started to see this line, at first I thought it might be wrought bodied with a steel bit mainly due to the fact that the hard steel area would throw sparks more readily than the softer body, but on closer inspection after I had etched with some ferric, it sure enough was a hamon. The old axe is a True Temper; Kelly Works, "Flint Edge, Best Axe Made" Made in USA. It hit me like a ton of bricks when I saw the graphic next to the "Best Axe Made" part where it was a little guy in a hat doing what seemed like edge quenching an axe head in a quench BIG bucket! A very cool thing to find under all that rust, was fascinating to clean it up and learn so much about the process and make and model, and with knowledge gleaned from knifemaking to be able to read all the clues and put everything together. Without the knowledge of quench lines and stuff the little man quenching the axe head graphic would mean nothing. Got this axe all clenaed up and a sword gorund out, a good day :D .
 
Sam Salvati said:
I will see if I can catch it, the axe is very shiny so it is hard to catch it.
Click to expand...

One thing to remember when photographing polished metal is that while you focus on the surface, what you are really photographing is the reflections on the surface, so you are not actualy illuminating the surface, so much as what is reflecting in it

-Page
 
Axes are often differentially quenched, giving a hard edge and softer ,tougher head.
When photographing shiney things don't use direct lighting.If you have a problem bring it over and I'll do it.
 
sunshadow said:
One thing to remember when photographing polished metal is that while you focus on the surface, what you are really photographing is the reflections on the surface, so you are not actualy illuminating the surface, so much as what is reflecting in it

-Page
Click to expand...

Yup! So, light it well and reflect a black background into it. ;)

-d
 
i once polished an old foster brothers meat cleaver and it had a temper line but it looked more like they forge welded a high carbon edge with a softer back. maybe your axe was made in a similar way.
 
drewfacehotm said:
i once polished an old foster brothers meat cleaver and it had a temper line but it looked more like they forge welded a high carbon edge with a softer back. maybe your axe was made in a similar way.
Click to expand...

No I can tell the difference between the temper line and parting line of a wrought/steel, the parting line will have a mechanically shaped joint somewhere like a V or wrap around that you can notice especially when etched. The temper line however was just flat and smoky.
 
yeah its been a while since i did that and now that you said it did look like a shaped joint, i remember a distinct striaght line midwidth on the blade.
 
Interesting! I was recently contacted by a company in New Zealand that makes competition axes, they were looking for a source of W2, said it was by far the best steel for their axes. They want the edges to harden but not the body in a full quench, thus the shallow hardening steel.
 
Haha Sam, I don't have that much left and shipping would be a killer.
I told em W2 was still being made in Australia and Europe.
 
l_45e74d8842bd42c59a25871c87f6e733.jpg


l_27ef23eb730145b297a298c4841c08c1.jpg


l_a379b7f33b5347109e82389d08804e32.jpg
 
I have had temper lines appear on some of my blades that were full quenched without clay. I had always supposed that this was because the thinner metal near the edge cooled more quickly than the thick area near the spine. Could this be why there's a hamon on your ax?
 
It's differentially hardened, you just dip the edge into the quenchant. Martensite edge, the rest is pearlite.
 
Used this baby today, man it is a sweet axe! Took down some pines like they were twigs, then went to town on a 12 inch across hickory, that was a bit of work but it did the job still as sharp as it was when I started this morning. Very cool to have a good axe.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top