Looking for a bold hamon

[jimbowie7]

For the most noticeable hamon, which is better 1050, 1080 or 1095?

I've read that 1050 is good, but is there really that much of a difference?

Is there any difference in the cutting ability of 1050, 1080 or 1095? I'm assuming that 1095 will hold the sharpest edge -but again is the difference really noticeable.

If it matters, I'm not making swords, just tantos.

 

[grawulf]

Well I'm just beginning to experiment with the same thing so my advice isn't going to be as good as the pros, but it sounds like you're on the right track with the 10xx series steels. From what I've read and learned, both on the forum and in a few books, it sounds like the plain carbon steels produce the best hamon. With a 1050-1070 steel -differentially hardened of course- you can get the qualities you'd want in a sword or large blade. I've used 5160 for swords and found it very tough, but not ideal for something like a skinner or a chef's knife because of the lower carbon. It depends on how much slicing and dicing you do, versus wood chopping and such...

Like you said, 1095 is going for the razor edge. Personally for me, I'm going to be using 1095 on a few tantos in the near future for testing. On a smaller blade like a tanto it seems like it would be worth it to get the extra carbon content, thus the harder edge. If you're set up for differential hardening then you can really have the best of both worlds with that steel. For a camp knife I'd probably use a lower carbon content but that's because it would be taking a lot of abuse.

Like I said, I'm sure some more experienced guys probably have more solid advice. Most of my knowledge at this point has come from reading. Anyway, I hope I've at least helped some.

-Jeramy

 

[Chiro75]

For a knife, if you want a really in-your-face hamon, I think your best bet would be 1080/1084. The hamon just screams on that steel, and it's a great steel for knives. I really like it, and I've used a decent amount of it. 1095 is alot harder steel to actually use properly, and the hamon doesn't jump like on 1084. The difference is amazing! 1095 is great for knives, also, and the hamon looks good if you want it to be subtle/kind of faded looking. You can really make them pop on 1095, too, if you know what you're doing, but 1084 is super easy to use, a good steel, and it's pretty much idiot-proof, which is why I like it so much!