How do i get a good hamon on my 26C3 steel

another question from me, since its thinner stock (2.2mm) should i just quench the knife without even doing the bewels. In my mind im thinking this would decrease the chance of warping and cracking massively. Im just afraid of a bad hamon at that point. What do yall say?
 
If I were making a kitchen knife from W2 that did NOT have a hamon, I would go ahead and heat treat and grind bevels afterwards.

However, WITH a hamon I would get about 75% of the grinding done prior to heat treat. It's not just the mass of the clay slowing down the cooling rate, but also the mass of the spine area as well. I always, when shooting for a hamon, will do some grinding to thin out the edge.
 
With Ferric Chloride it would not matter because it is already an aqueous solution, but the "acid to water ... never water to acid" is always the wise decision.

Another safety feature:
When mixing solid FC powder/chunks to make a stock solution it will get very hot. Add it slowly to the water while stirring.
Use a sturdy bucket like a drywall bucket. If you use a plastic pail or bottle it will likely melt the container.
 
Cool looking profile. Maybe a bit thin?

Before I decided that hamons are for sadists (jk but also not really) I found that have a bevel transition to flat Just above the point I want the hamon really helped promote hamon activity. This allows you to keep the spine @ full thickness to help with warps but still produces good results.

Being honest a heat treating oven really helps as well. I found best activity at the lower end of Aust temps range, at least with 1095 and w2
 
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