No Hamon with 5160?

Marion David Poff

Marion David Poff

Joined
Oct 8, 1998
Messages
5,403
OK,

I read that you cannot get a hamon with 5160.

To make sure that I understand....

A hamon is simply the visible line of demarcation that separates the hard edge from the softer spine.

If that is the case, I have a knife that has a hamon, and that I was informed, was made from 5160.

DSCN2421a.jpg


Am I missing something?

Marion
 
ive wondered the same thing i make alot knives from 5160 and you can defently see the "hamon or temper line" if i differataly ht not as drmatic as on some other streels but definitely there
 
A hamon is much more than just the demarcation of hard and soft. There is transitional areas that are created with the varying thicknesses of clay and the rapid cooling and retarding of the cooling under the clay. 5160 and many other deep hardening steels are able to show a demarcation line when a torch HT is done. This is done by heating only the edge. Another method is to do an edge quench in wich the edge is only qenched to the depth desired and the back is left to cool in the air above the quench medium. This can cause what has been referred to as the singed eyebrow syndrome. Flareups are frequent with this technique. These lines lack the character and line definition of what is considered a true Hamon. I used to do the edge heat and quench method and had some OK results. Then I began using shallow hardening steel and the beauty and aggravation of obtaining a hamon was realized.
 
What Chuck says is right on the money. 5160 will show a line, technically it could be called a hamon but you definitely will not get the activity you will get from a shallow hardening steel. I usually heat the whole blade and do an edge quench with rocking. For hamons I prefer the 10 series steel or W-2.
Brion
 
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