I cannot get my hamon to stand out.

B

bc2573

Joined
May 18, 2007
Messages
46
So I made me a little skinning blade using stock removal of an 01 flat bar. I sent it to Peters Heat Treat and had it heat treated and had them differential treat it for a hamon. Got the blade back several days ago and wasn't real happy with the hamon line definition (not Peters Heat Treat fault) as I am picky. So I watch a million videos regarding etching and bringing out the hamon. This afternoon I put on my rubber gloves cleaned it off with acetone real good and dropped it into the ferric chloride. At the 10 minute mark I pulled it and cleaned it real good. I applied my makers mark (vinyl logo) and dropped her back in there. I let it soak for 40 more minutes cleaning it twice in that time period. I got it out and neutralized the acid and let it sit for a little while. After an hour I took some micro 3000 grit sandpaper and smoothed it out real nice and then polished with silver polish. The blade turned out to be a perfect light gray which is exactly what I was looking for and my makers mark turned out perfect. You can see the hamon if you get it in the right light but otherwise it's almost invisible. Since I'm not happy with the way the hamon turned out I'm thinking of leaving it as is since I am pleased with the finish. What am I doing wrong for future reference?
 
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i would try etching it for a short period of time, just enough so you can see the temper line to your satisfaction and then use the silver/metal polish by hand with a cloth. nice blade shape :thumbup:
 
Have you had luck getting a hamon on 01 before? I haven't seen anyone with a hamon that wasn't 1095, 1075,w1 or w2.
There's a lot I haven't seen though so could be just me.
Maybe try some heated up vinegar and lemon juice.
Make sure you're through all the decarb and another thing that seems to work are loose powdered abrasives and flitz polish.
I too really like your blade and logo.
 
I hate to mess up that logo transfer, especially since I'm not happy about the hamon design on the blade. When I first etched it I could clearly see it but once I put the polish on it, it just disappeared.
 
I have never tried to get a hamon on O-1 because it isn't shallow hardening. I would expect very little activity to show.
 
Josh Rider said:
Have you had luck getting a hamon on 01 before? I haven't seen anyone with a hamon that wasn't 1095, 1075,w1 or w2.
There's a lot I haven't seen though so could be just me.
Maybe try some heated up vinegar and lemon juice.
Make sure you're through all the decarb and another thing that seems to work are loose powdered abrasives and flitz polish.
I too really like your blade and logo.
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This is my first attempt at a blade but I did do some research and was told that 01 makes a fine hamon. Maybe someone might disagree with that but that's what I was told. When I finish this one I am doing a cleaver style knife out of 1095. I may get a differential heat treat on that one as well and see if it makes a difference.
 
O1 will not really show a well defined hamon, unless you do a certain heat treat sequence using an O/A torch and a lot of control. Differentially heat treated, like an edge quench will get you a line. I think you left it in the etch way too long. For hamon etching I do a ten to fifteen second etch, then polish with flitz or something similar and 4f pumice powder. I may clean and re-etch a second or third time to bring out more activity. Very short etching cycles.
Brion
 
Whoever told you O1 makes a fine hamon doesn't have a clue. You "may" get a differential hardening line with O1, but doubtful you will ever achieve a "hamon". 1075, 1095, W1, W2, White steel, these are used for obtaining a hamon.
 
When I started out, I was misled by YouTube videos showing a hamon in O1. It was basically an edge hardened blade with a smudgy line. You need shallow hardening steels like the ones mentioned above.
 
You wont get crazy activity from O-1. Like others have said it is not shallow hardening, rather more deep hardening. You may be able to sharpen the line you have on your first picture, IE make it more defined, but its O-1, so just be happy with it as a great blade.

But if you do want to try bring it out, I generally use hot vinegar with a few drops of soap to etch. Paint it on with a paintbrush or one of those sponge brushes and neutralize in baking soda water after about 5 minutes of painting. Pull sand with 2500 grit paper or use powdered abrasives to clean off the oxides and repeat the process, making sure not to touch the blade with your fingers to avoid oil resudues. IME it works pretty well, it just takes patience.
 
Well that settles it. I am from going to leave this blade as is and just appreciate it as my first successful blade build and use it as a learning experience. It's still going to turn out to be an awesome knife (i hope lol). I will post some pics when I get her done.

Thank you for all of the great info on this thread. It's been very enlightening and I appreciate the opportunity to pick your brains and learn a thing or two.

-Brian-
 
BRTATCK said:
I think you left it in the etch way too long. For hamon etching I do a ten to fifteen second etch, then polish with flitz or something similar and 4f pumice powder. I may clean and re-etch a second or third time to bring out more activity. Very short etching cycles.
Brion
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Copy.

Since I am in full learning mode, how are some guys getting the darker steel with the light hamon with the shorter etch times? Here's a good example.

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If you do differential hardening ( yaki-ire) on a shallow hardening steel like W2, 1095, even 10984 ... you will get a pearlite upper and a martensite lower. These etch differently, thus creating the effect.

I don't know who told you O-1 was great for a hamon, but I would say not to let him give you any more steel advice. As a new maker, a post here in Shop Talk before making those type choices will get you many responses from people with vast knowledge on the subject.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
I don't know who told you O-1 was great for a hamon, but I would say not to let him give you any more steel advice. As a new maker, a post here in Shop Talk before making those type choices will get you many responses from people with vast knowledge on the subject.
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I read it somewhere in my research but I cannot remember where. I already had a bar of 01 and decided to give it a go. Live and learn I guess, I won't make that mistake again. The hamon wasn't critical to the build but I did want it to look nice and stand out to make the knife unique.

I will know the next go around and have the opportunity to make another knife and gain more experience.
 
Good deal.

You have been on BF for almost ten years. Fill out your profile and let us know where you live and somethings about you. Someone near you could offer direct help. That may help you a lot.
 
I will do that.


I will go ahead and give you the short and skinny on my story. My name is Brian and I live in the Birmingham AL area. I've hunted and fished my entire life and several years ago I had an old guy teach me a little about knifemaking. This guy would buy kit knives and put handles on them (mostly micarta). I talked him into using some snakewood, cocobolo, ebony, and other exotic hardwoods and we made some very good looking knives. I just was never really satisfied by the styles of the kit knives that were offered (like I said I'm picky about my knives). In the late 90's the old fella passed away and his kids loaded up all his knifemaking equipment and wound up selling it. After that I pretty much quit other than helping buddies put a handle on their knives every now and again.

Fast forward to last year. I was at a trade show and happened upon a booth that had some Damascus knife blanks. I found one that I semi liked and the urge to make a knife hit me again. So I bought it, brought it home, and put some Damascus bolsters on it and buffalo horn handles on it. That seemed to satisfy my itch, but I kept looking at blade styles on line from various makers. I saw a lot of newer styles and blades that I really liked. I saw all the darker steels and things that makers were doing to make their blades stand out and I just fell in love. I knew right then and there that I wanted to make some knives and I wanted to make them in styles that I thought were awesome. I knew then that the missing thing I needed to do to be "all in" was to do my own thing and make my own blades. Here I am today.

I don't plan on selling any knives. I just want to make a handful of knives to start out with and learn a lot of different techniques. I am excited about it and look forward to continuing to learn and soak up knowledge from some of you experts.

I appreciate you sharing your knowledge and experience with me.
 
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