DaveSmith Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 In the midst of some of my other heat treats, I decided to give differential HT a try. I'd heard such good things about the Rutlands mortar that I went out and got some of my own. The only stuff that ACE hardware here in TX had available was the Rutlands Stovo Stove Mortar. It says it's good up to 2000 degrees. That should work alright for the clay, right? Hopefully? So, I just lay out the ashi lines in an interesting pattern, then coat the back of the blade with a layer about 1/8 inch thick... is that correct? Also, do I need to temper it at all? Nobody seems to mention temper in conjunction with differential heat treats, but would it be better to do so to be on the safe side? Thanks again for all the forthcoming info guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DFogg Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 What steel are you using? I would recommend a simple carbon steel with low Mn. Oil hardening steels fight the process. Tempering is not to be neglected, have your oven ready and get the blade in there as soon as you can handle it. Quench in oil. Show us the results. Good luck. Don Fogg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveSmith Posted October 19, 2009 Author Share Posted October 19, 2009 I have two blades I'm going to try to differentially HT. One is 1075 and the other is 1095. According to Admiral's website, the 1075 has a pretty low Mn content... so I think that'll be okay. I am, however, a bit worried about beating the nose of the 1095. Also, I know water might be a better quenchant for 1095 but I don't want to risk any water quenches just yet. I can't afford too many failures as I need to have a certain amount of finished work at the end of the semester for grading. On a separate note... Don Fogg replied to my post. Sweet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Sheffield Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I have two blades I'm going to try to differentially HT. One is 1075 and the other is 1095. According to Admiral's website, the 1075 has a pretty low Mn content... so I think that'll be okay. I am, however, a bit worried about beating the nose of the 1095. Also, I know water might be a better quenchant for 1095 but I don't want to risk any water quenches just yet. I can't afford too many failures as I need to have a certain amount of finished work at the end of the semester for grading. On a separate note... Don Fogg replied to my post. Sweet. I have used peanut oil on 1095 without any problems (low tech file skate method). I have had nothing but cracked blades with water. I'm just not good enough to do a water quench. 1075 does ok, but I can't seen to get my polishing down so my hamons aren't very aesthetically pleasing. So take what I'm saying with a grain. My life is like shaving with a razor sharp machete. It's a bit awkward and I feel a sting every now and then, but in the end I'm happy with the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveSmith Posted October 20, 2009 Author Share Posted October 20, 2009 Truth be told... I'll just be happy if I get any sort of hamon. I've got them all clayed up... we'll see what happens tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveSmith Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 I've moved this reply to this thread from my other HT thread because it made more sense here and I wanted to avoid redundancy. Okay, for those that happened to see my thread concerning differential heat treat, you know that I tried it with two of the knives I was heat treating. One was 1095 and the other was 1075. I don't have pictures of either yet, but I have started polishing up the 1095 knife. I feel confident that I got it from critical into the quench in under a second. My canola oil was at 120 degrees, so that should have gotten it under the nose, right? I file tested the edge and spine and they definitely seem to be hard and soft respectively, yet I can't seem to find any sort of hamon even though I've taken it to about 400 grit. No acid dip as of yet though. I haven't even finished taking the clay off the 1075 knife... so no news there yet. File tests indicate hard edge and softer spine though. So, my questions are these: If I have not yet seen any signs at all of a hamon on the 1095 knife, am I correct in assuming it's probably not there? What can I do to make sure there is a hamon next time? Hopefully I can take some pictures after I've cleaned the blades up a bit more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPeacock Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 [i'm not an expert in hamon, but i suspect you wont be able to see it at all until you etch it. When makin damascus, you can see the patern slightly because of scaling, but as you get it sanded and polished you can no longer see the pattern. it simply looks like shiny steel. Only when you etch it does the pattern become visible again. I suspect that with the subtle nature of the hamon, you wont see anything unti lyou etch it. I may well be wrong though. I'm sure someone will correct me if I am. Have you ever thought about the life of steel? It's interesting to think that you can control the fate of a piece of metal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveSmith Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 First of all, I'd like to correct my earlier post. I'd only taken the 1095 blade to about 320 or so. I've taken one side of the 1075 blade to 400 and you can just see a hamon emerging... in the right light. Now I just have to figure out how to make it "pop". I suppose acid is the next course of action. Most people are using ferric for hamon or simply vinegar or something similar? We'll see how the 1095 blade looks when I have it polished up past 400 but I'm not holding my breath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenon Rain. Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 if the 1095 has a harder edge than spine, you got a line in there somewhere, if not, then no.. now the quality of the line is the question at that point, whether it trails off or not, or is too closer or too far from the edge.. ferric is awesome, I just bought some to play with. vinegar and lemon juice coctail work, but it takes much longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kunio Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 polish up to 1000 etch in viniger continue up to 2000 etch between each grit if you have a hamon it will show kunio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Sheffield Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Buy Walter Sorrels video on polishing. I'll be using his way on the next blade with a hamon I do. My life is like shaving with a razor sharp machete. It's a bit awkward and I feel a sting every now and then, but in the end I'm happy with the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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