Practice, lots and lots of practice for hamons...

Brian Avila

Brian Avila

Joined
Jan 2, 2011
Messages
1,286
I have to admit that I was hit by the hamon bug right when I started making knives. I tried a lot of different stuff. But after making and trashing a ton of knives and practicing and listening to as much information as I could, here is the result.


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You guys are welcome to comment away.

-Brian-
 
I like that a lot. Very interesting pattern. Do you have pictures of the blade with the clay on it? I have clayed a bunch of blades but haven't gotten around to etching any of them yet. Someday.
 
What I ended up doing to make the activity was to, trace the blade on a piece of paper and then layout the clay on the traced outline. Then print it out and cut the pattern and transfer it to the blade and then add the clay. I don't have a pic of the clay but here is the outline that I traced and added the clay layout plan to.

I have found that this helps with keep both side even, so you don't have a bad blob on one side or some warping issues. At least this fixed those problems for me.

HamonClaylayout_zps65f5eae0.jpg
 
I found that hot vinegar works the best for me. Then all I use is loose abrasive powder for the polishing after etch.
 
1084 doesn't produce a hamon like that, you can get a "hamon" but not a lot of activity. You are better off with 1075 or 1095 if you want to get some hamon action.
 
Really nice hamon, Brian.

For those who want a hamon, the key ingredient to the process is low manganese and low alloy content. A steel with .80% carbon, less than .25% manganese, and only traces of anything else is the ideal hamon steel. Since that is about as easy to find as unicorns, you find the lowest alloy and Mn steel you can and learn how to work it. It takes many failed hamon and many broken blades to get it down to stunning.

One reason why Hitachi White #1 is so highly respected is it is as close to the ideal hamon producing knife steel as you can get commercially.... It is virtually carbon and iron.
 
If that is 1095, that is exceptional. I have never been that happy with 1095 compared to W2 or Hitachi white. It definitely gets a hamon, but I found 1095 less dramatic. Great job! :thumbup:
 
Brian, I used to trace out the blade and the hamon on a piece of tape.
Cut it out and place the tape on the blade.
Apply clay and peal off the tape.
 
Karl, that's good the hear! Tracing the outline in the blade was a solution to help me keep everything as symmetric as possible.
 
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