Hasiya Etched (1 Pic)

Dave Rishar

Dave Rishar

Joined
Oct 25, 2004
Messages
3,178
I picked up a Hasiya not too long ago from another forumite. It's one of the newer ones. Sher made it.

I was doing a batch of etches on Saturday and had meant to etch the Hasiya but it slipped my mind, other things came up, and I didn't get around to it until today.

The method I'm currently using is PCB etchant cut 1/4 with water at room temp (no easy way to heat it currently) but with the blade nice and hot. I dunk the blade for anywhere from 10-30 seconds, depending on how quickly the etchant is working. I polish off the oxides with either Nevr-Dull or Mother's, depending on the effect that I'm looking for. (Mother's seems a bit more aggressive.)

Anyway, I know that I wasn't the only one wondering if the Hasiyas are differentially hardened. Without further ado:

hasiyaetch.jpg


The picture speaks for itself.

I'm pretty sure that Sher used a different steel for this. It etched considerably differently than any other HI blade that I've done so far. The etchant attacked it like nobody's business and by the third etch/polish cycle I was dunking it for only four or five seconds; that was all that was required. The nonhardened areas turned a uniform gray without any discernable patterns...not even the infamous "railroad tracks" that we've come to know and love. (And wonder about.) Nothing. Interesting. The hamon you're seeing is the result of three etch/polish cycles but it looked pretty much identical after the first. I didn't bother going beyond three - I wasn't seeing any changes. This is the first time that I've had a hamon "pop" on the first dunk like that.

Anyone else etch theirs? I'm curious as to how the others look, especially the older ones.
 
I wonder why they dont harden it all the way around?
Satori, Id love to see you cut some hanging things in the air with that, Im curious if it can do as well as a khukuri.
 
Interesting results, I agree with Dan; the steel looks like a 1 series steel. My guess :rolleyes: :rolleyes: is 1060, that's definitely a guess :).

Good looking etch by the way.

Matt
 
Hmmm...so you guys think that it's something other than 5160 also. I thought that I was just going nuts.

This thing was a piece of cake to etch - the easiest that I've ever done, by far. Is this typical of 1-series steels?

I want to do some cutting with it but it'll be a while. Things have become hectic on this end again. Perhaps later this week.
 
Satori said:
Is this typical of 1-series steels?
Click to expand...
Yes. Especially when quenched in water as the kamis do. Would be interesting to see the test results. Be sure to let us know when you get the time.
 
I based my guess on your etching and polishing process. I have produced similar hardening lines with 5160, but it seems to etch differently than 1 series steel. Of course that's just my observation.

My 1060 guess was based on the width of the transition line. Typically the higher the carbon content the finer the transition line. However, if the entire blade is not austentized, the austentized portion of a blade will harden and there will be a wider transition line. That was poorly articulated.

Also if the quench was not fast enough a wide transition line is also possible on higher carbon steel.

I absolutly hate when people refer someone to their website to describe a process, but take a look at my site :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :yawn: I have some photos of hardening lines that are similar in 5160, w1, and 1065.

Man, I'm lame.

Matt
 
Satori said:
Hmmm...so you guys think that it's something other than 5160 also. I thought that I was just going nuts.

This thing was a piece of cake to etch - the easiest that I've ever done, by far. Is this typical of 1-series steels?
Click to expand...
I agree with the others, it's a higher-carbon 10XX series or something similar, possibly 1050 and most likely higher.

Acid pickling of 10XX steels in preparation for electroplating is very fast; parts do not need to remain in the acid for very long at all, as opposed to a 51XX alloy.

Noah
 
DannyinJapan said:
I wonder why they dont harden it all the way around?
Click to expand...

Me too, it seems like on a knife like that you would want a much larger hardened zone, especially extending closer to the tip. Maybe the kamis have trouble getting a large area up to a uniform heat using the forge that they have. Or, maybe more likely, during the water pour quench the tip area has begun to cool by the time the stream of water reaches it.
 
My guess on the hardening zone is that really is the crux of the blade. The area where one would be most likely to try and hack through tough wooded reeds and sapplings. That's where i'd want my harder, sharper edge. The other areas are left softer, especially the tip, for the occational smack into the dirt so that the edge dings and rolls instead of chipping. But like i said, a guess at most on my part.

Jake
 
I agree with SG...hard in the middle to whack stubborn stuff, soft on the tip for hitting dirt and easier sharpening in the field.

.
 
Doncha' wish we could exchange e-mails with one or more of the kamis? We have all these questions and most often end up "reasoning" our way to answers based on our experience (rather than theirs), analogy and hearsay.

Not that I don't go for the latest theory here. I have some garden sickles, and they're pretty soft. (Probably to avoid losing a limb in a peach orchard. ;) )
 
Thomas Linton said:
Doncha' wish we could exchange e-mails with one or more of the kamis? We have all these questions and most often end up "reasoning" our way to answers based on our experience (rather than theirs), analogy and hearsay.
Click to expand...

I, for one, would love to hear what Sher has to say about it.

I wouldn't think that a sickle would need a differentially hardened edge in the first place. I'm very pleased that it is - it's this kind of added insurance that gives me faith in a tool.
 
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