who makes a distinct temper line?

N

nybble

Joined
Nov 9, 2001
Messages
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I'm just curious - which forgers out there put special consideration into making a nice and distinct temper line? Recently I've seen fogg's exceptional work as well as primos's. I know there's tons more, but for some reason can't think of them.
 
Jason Knight
Nick Wheeler
Ed Fowler
Bill Burke
Howard Clark

too many to mention
 
Tai Goo,
Randal Graham,
Jason Knight,
Etc, etc, etc.

Too many to mention is right.

Anyone and their brother can do a quench line. Few people really research and push this concept.
 
Thanks, guys!

I guess I meant what Joss mentions in his last sentence. Who out there, do you think, is the best at this? In terms of combining the physical advantages you get from having the blade diff hardened with the aesthetic quality of a really figured and pronounced line. I've seen some of Tai's work on this front and it is pretty amazing, don't know how I forgot that!
 
Then I'd have to say:
Don Fogg,
Howard Clark,
Nick Wheeler,
A few others....

One red herring is the steel the maker use. If they use anything other than a 10XX or W1 / W2 steels, it becomes nearly impossible to really "paint with cristals" (Don Fogg's expression). So you can get quench lines with deep-hardening steels like 5160 and 52100, but I have never seen the kind of activity and control which you can have with simpler alloys.
 
Any competent bladesmith can do a visible temper line, IF they choose to. All it requires is to differentially heat treat the blade, AND put extra time into making the transition line show. Usually, this means lots of extra sanding with much finer grits than normal. Also, the blade must be etched a certain way too.

Opinions vary, and I'm certain some people will find this offensive, but I really don't think it makes for a better blade. It just looks really cool, and I like it sometimes. But, on my using knives, I see no need for a visible hamon. In fact, I have no problem with a full quench blade, and actually prefer those to use.
 
Differentially h-t blades were developed around two constraints: (1) simple alloys only - no fancy chromium or nickel earing steels - and (2) it was used mostly for swords. Swords are not just big knives, and if you want a really hard edge on a sword, a softer back makes sense.

For knives, I think of hamon as I think of damascus. Those are techniques that were developed to solve some specific problems that don't arise nowadays. They have now become just additional dimensions for the maker to demonstrate their esthetic and technical skills.
 
As has been stated, any good maker can show a hamon if they wish. The guys I think are the best are the ones making traditional Japanese style knives and swords. I also think that Nick Wheeler, Tai Goo, Don Fogg, Jason Cutter and umpteen others do a fantastic hamon as well.
 
Keith Larman polishes a lot of Howard Clark blades:

http://summerchild.com/summer.html

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Originally posted by Joss
For knives, I think of hamon as I think of damascus. Those are techniques that were developed to solve some specific problems that don't arise nowadays. They have now become just additional dimensions for the maker to demonstrate their esthetic and technical skills.
Click to expand...

I think Joss summed that up nicely.

Now for some hamon eye-candy:

Steve Filicietti (pic from knifeart.com):

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Burt Foster (pic from burtfoster.com):

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Tai Goo (pic from bladegallery.com):

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And Ed Caffrey (photo from Caffreyknives.net):

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Cheers,

Roger
 
Hey, I've seen that Burt Foster knife somewhere! Oh yeah, it's sitting right beside me, on my table. :)
 
I know my name was already mentioned (thank you by-the-way), but since we're having a pic fest here, I wanted to play too! :D

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When you mention temper line I think of Terry Primos first. My Ed Fowler "Pronghorn" has a beautiful but subtle temeper line. I don't really own a knife with a bold hamon line. My friend Max Burnett is making me a Scagel style knife and he asked me if I wanted the temper line bold or not? I told him, "Go BOLD...Please". Max has sent me some early pics of this knife and it's going to be stunning. ;)
 
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