Hamon time !!! (first try)

Joined
Dec 1, 2003
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After I considered in school yesterday to try myself in Hardening, I got a blow torch from a local supply store and build a little "forge" .

I actually intended to build a one brick forge but that crappy store didn't had them, although they are available in nearly every othe supply store :grumpy:.
So I ended up using some wire and a leftover piece ceramicwool from my big forge that I#m building right now.

So all in all it looks not very sophisticated rather like this :barf: :D.

But it works and I hardened a little san mai blade (outer layers are damascus). And it came out good and hard.

And today when I was on my first aid course (needed for my drivers license)
I got the thought of trying diffrentially hardening a blade with a nice Hamon.
I dind't got the thought just out of nowhere , because last evening I watched "The Last Samurai" (two times first in German than in English:)) and so I was freshly inspired.

I took a little sketch I did in my last biologie lesson and cranked it out of a 4 mm piece of C45 (1045) in about one hour. Wanted to make something small, because of the limited capacity of the Lil' Forge :D.

Don't kick my but now, I know that C45 isn't that good, especially if I want a small and sharp blade.But it's the only good hamon-producing steel I could get as flat stock.
If I could get an anvil and my stuff set up I would use all that great round stock I've collected over time .

I hardened it in oil (i didn't dare to use water or brine) and the edge is definitely harder than the rest. But A file still bites a bit. But not as nearly as much as in the unhardened flat stock. I guess that's just because of the very low carbon content.
But it should be sharp enough to hold a decent edge. Right now the little sucker is backing ar 190 degrees (Celcius).

When I finished polishing by hand it should look a lot better then after the120 grit belt and a short and ugly try etch.

Looking forward to your comments and thoughts about it (tips and hints by fellow knifemakers are always appreciated :D ).

Here are the blurry pics (better ones will come when finished):

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Marcus
 
1045 is a bit low in carbon for a blade. That's an interesting hamon did you use clay , what type ? When you post give details - steel type , how it was heat treated [ forge , torch ,temperatures clay etc] size .Then we can better give you comments. You can actually get a hardness of ~ 55-57 HRc with 1045 but it won't be very wear resistant. A good start.
 
bullet101 said:
Don't kick my but now, I know that C45 isn't that good, especially if I want a small and sharp blade.But it's the only good hamon-producing steel I could get as flat stock.
If I could get an anvil and my stuff set up I would use all that great round stock I've collected over time .
He said he knows that 1045 isn't that great. You have to start with something. It's a good hamon, especially for a first try.
 
Damn nice grind!! I like the shape....
 
Excellent first hamon.(I wish all mine came out that sharp). Let us know what you used for the clay?Next time,back it off the edge a wee bit more - don't want pieces of edge falling off,or soft spots along the edge.Keep up the good work.
 
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