New Twist on an Old Style Finish

A C Richards

A C Richards

Joined
Apr 14, 2006
Messages
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Here are a couple of my firebreaks with the new field finish I have started doing. I began bead blasting the blades at a customers request. It turned out so good I decided to offer this instead of the "normal" polishing that takes hours and adds hundreds of dollars to the cost. The bead blast actually accentuated the Hamon and only slightly affects the hardened portion of the blade. This finish is much easier to do so I can keep my prices down to were I feel a user should be. I can also refinish this blade much easier than a "normal" polish.

Please excuse the hot spots but it was the only way I could get the hamon to pop.

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Thanks for looking
 
Pretty cool Chuck, my friend Gene Martin makes a blade like that he calls the weed eater.

Did you do a hamon on that or is that put in with the blaster?
 
Hi Chuck,

Does the bead blasting let you dispense with acid etching too?

That's a sweet looking chopper AND finish. Although, if you're trying to make an affordable user, why put a hamon on it at all?

All the best, Phil
 
What Mr. Richards is saying is that blasting the blades, alone, produces the finish and hamon.
 
The way I read it is, that instead of having to spend hours polishing/sanding the balde to get the hamon (hamons are a by product of clay coating) to his liking he bead blasts it instead. The softer area is damaged more by the sand and thus highlights the hamon. Similar to acid etch, but different. Just my thoughts. Guess we'll wait and see what Mr. Richard says.
 
A C Richards said:
The bead blast actually accentuated the Hamon and only slightly affects the hardened portion of the blade.
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A blasted finish is so much easier, especially if your shoulder/elbow can't take much hand sanding. When you mention affecting the hardening of the blade, what are you referring to? Did you use the same media on the whole blade, or different media for the hardened/unhardened portions?
 
R. Mark has is correct. I do a clay back to develop the hamon on the blade. The reason I do it is to give a more pleasing look for a true one of a kind knife. The blasting effects the soft areas while it does not affect the hard ares as much, well really only a couple of pocks here and there. I go back and hit it with 800 grit to bring back the hand rubbed look. I do not use acid or ferric chloride on these at all. This is were the time savings come in. I do not have to take the blade to 2000 grit+ and then do a very slow etch and rub out 30+ times. This takes me an extra 8 hours or more. Then the finish is so fragile that as soon as it is used it is marred beyond reasonable repair. The field finish can be brought back to original in very short order. Just put it back in the blast cabinet and hit it again. The next step I am gong to try is parkerizing the blade. This will add a bit of corrosion resistance but if the parkerizing is damaged it cannot be repaired unless I take the knife apart. So we will see if this will be a benefit or not.
 
Zaph the affect I talk about is the marking of the hard vs soft areas. The bead just bounces off the hard areas, it only shows a light dusting look that I can sand out easily.

I use the same media on the whole blade. I just throw it in the blast cabinet and blast the whole thing. I use glass bead that does not gouge out the material like the fine sand does. I tried the first one with a fine sand media that did create some pretty large gouging. This can cause collection of moisture and dirt etc which can promote rusting. The glass bead produces a more rounded pock that does not as readily create the rusting problems. It actually seems to hold the oil a little better. THis is another reason I have been thinking about trying the parkerizing.
 
that's pretty smart (differential hardness = differential finish) and a great looking blade!
 
Chuck
I have parkerized quite a few file knives with a hamon that was blasted. You will still be able to see the hamon after parkerizing also at least in my experience.
If you want a really hot hamon though I have a feeling hot blueing after blasting would look even better. I have been meaning to try that but have not yet.
CW
 
very, very interesting. I never had any interest in bead blasting until just this very minute. Do most folks have some kind of bead blasting set up in their shop.. or is this something that is sent out?
 
A blasting cabinet only costs about $100 and doesn't take up much room. It's quiet, clean, and will come in handy with lots of other non-knife projects.
 
Good looking knife! Blast cabinets can be purchased cheap enough but you need a good volume of air from your compressor to run it for very long. Also it is good to have a filter and vacuum on the cabinet or you end up with a lot of dust and beads on the floor. I had a 15N20 hunting knife that was edge hardened and then black parkerized. Used is for several seasons and it held up well after being wet and bloody. You could see the temper line faintly and the parkerizing stayed looking good except for some faint spotting showed through.
 
amazing finish. I bet with some Parking it will look even cooler... but Will it hold up well?
 
petah said:
amazing finish. I bet with some Parking it will look even cooler... but Will it hold up well?
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That's the question I have. It might hold up well with a huntet but a chopper like this it might wear quickly. I guess I am going to have to break down and build one and parkerize it form myself, oh darn. :D
 
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