- Joined
- Dec 29, 2016
- Messages
- 754
I know their is a massive forum on this topic, but i have some fresh perspective & some updated questions - who knows, maybe this elusive art has been solved in a couple years (terrible joke).
So let's start this thread with my massive obsession with Jelle Hazenburg, chefs knives that he and Don Nguyen make, and their hamons. Jelle is one of my idles that i look up to and compare everything too, his style & everything are incredibly unique. His sculpting is also insane - among everything else, but something i can't get over is the fact that the hamons he achieves look literally printed on. They're perfect, EVERYTIME. I know he mentions having to redo blades because they don't come out right - and social media is a highlight reel, keeping almost all the failures under wraps, but my god. The formula for him is OBVIOUSLY dialed in (even though he still makes mistakes, and yes, i know the vast amount of variables in play here when we're talking about hamons).
Bit of backstory - i got some 26C3/410 core san mai, which has been the push it's time to pursue chef's knives again, or fail repeatedly (it's hot in AZ and if i'm not committed to whatever i'm working on, it's way too easy to quit in the heat). So before i wreck this san mai bar that is more expensive than the regular stuff, i decided to buy some regular 26C3 and do a test batch. I cut out 3 blanks (.150" thick, i know it's thick for a chef's knife but i want to convex grind like Don Nguyen - a man can dream here okay), and shipped them off to HT.
I got them in yesterday, and began working on them. I surface ground the first one, developed a game plan, and started to grind the bevels. I was only able to complete one side, before having to call it a night. So today, when i got to getting the other bevel ground in, i start to see something peeking through at me. By the time i got to 220 i could see if SUPER well, that crazy unicorn hamon is there (i didn't do the HT, i have no idea the process besides - baked in a kiln and quenched in parks 50, tempered twice, and then hardness tested). I know the HRC is 63. The hamon currently is hard to picture, and i don't have ferric on hand to test or check (i also plan to use white vinegar & lemon juice, the method that Willie details out in the other thread) but it's the kind of hamon i want to produce - intentionally. It's hard to see it now but i can tell it's insanely active, super cloudy, and going to have lots of contrast. I'm out of 220 sandpaper (or i'd be hand sanding right now), but i'll follow up this thread with whatever i reveal.
I plan to use Willie's method that he detailed out in the thread, but use FFFF pumice as my polish.
The question i have is, how on earth did i get this lucky - or any thoughts, kind of hard to speculate but i know clay wasn't used and also, what are your methods / have they changed at all since the last thread?
So let's start this thread with my massive obsession with Jelle Hazenburg, chefs knives that he and Don Nguyen make, and their hamons. Jelle is one of my idles that i look up to and compare everything too, his style & everything are incredibly unique. His sculpting is also insane - among everything else, but something i can't get over is the fact that the hamons he achieves look literally printed on. They're perfect, EVERYTIME. I know he mentions having to redo blades because they don't come out right - and social media is a highlight reel, keeping almost all the failures under wraps, but my god. The formula for him is OBVIOUSLY dialed in (even though he still makes mistakes, and yes, i know the vast amount of variables in play here when we're talking about hamons).
Bit of backstory - i got some 26C3/410 core san mai, which has been the push it's time to pursue chef's knives again, or fail repeatedly (it's hot in AZ and if i'm not committed to whatever i'm working on, it's way too easy to quit in the heat). So before i wreck this san mai bar that is more expensive than the regular stuff, i decided to buy some regular 26C3 and do a test batch. I cut out 3 blanks (.150" thick, i know it's thick for a chef's knife but i want to convex grind like Don Nguyen - a man can dream here okay), and shipped them off to HT.
I got them in yesterday, and began working on them. I surface ground the first one, developed a game plan, and started to grind the bevels. I was only able to complete one side, before having to call it a night. So today, when i got to getting the other bevel ground in, i start to see something peeking through at me. By the time i got to 220 i could see if SUPER well, that crazy unicorn hamon is there (i didn't do the HT, i have no idea the process besides - baked in a kiln and quenched in parks 50, tempered twice, and then hardness tested). I know the HRC is 63. The hamon currently is hard to picture, and i don't have ferric on hand to test or check (i also plan to use white vinegar & lemon juice, the method that Willie details out in the other thread) but it's the kind of hamon i want to produce - intentionally. It's hard to see it now but i can tell it's insanely active, super cloudy, and going to have lots of contrast. I'm out of 220 sandpaper (or i'd be hand sanding right now), but i'll follow up this thread with whatever i reveal.
I plan to use Willie's method that he detailed out in the thread, but use FFFF pumice as my polish.
The question i have is, how on earth did i get this lucky - or any thoughts, kind of hard to speculate but i know clay wasn't used and also, what are your methods / have they changed at all since the last thread?
