Kael Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 Hey, I am using Imperial high-temp. furnace cement as a "clay" of sorts for hamon making and I'm getting some pretty interesting results. (The steel I'm using is 5160 btw) When I heat and quench in water, the blade warps and/or cracks and when I quench in oil (motor oil) the cement just peels right off. And the one time it did actually sort of work (enough to see a bit of a pattern, the blade of which cracked later) I did a test etch and a bunch if light and dark areas appeared over the entire blade. Not a hamon like I was expecting, but small light and dark rings like bubbles over the surface. Any idea what might cause this? (Also, when I quenched the other day with clay on the whole piece, only the tip hardened when the whole piece was the same temp.?) I've been getting a lot of interesting results that are not quite perfect, any help on why this might be happening or how I can fix it would be spectacular! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerrod Miller Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 5160 is too deep hardening for a clay induced hamon. You can differentially harden by edge quenching though. You need a steel that is much more shallow hardening. Something with low Mn and Cr. Also, 5160 should only be quenched in oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kael Posted June 20, 2020 Author Share Posted June 20, 2020 Alright, sounds good! Would claying the blade and then quenching the edge produce a hamon? The edge is still cooling at different points on the blade, would the wave still be visible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted June 20, 2020 Share Posted June 20, 2020 No. 5160 will only give you a sharp line at the oil/air junction. Look at the thread called "what is a hamon, anyway" in the next forum up. The mottled look you got was from overheating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kael Posted June 20, 2020 Author Share Posted June 20, 2020 (edited) Really? Over heating, huh. We'll that makes sense! Thanks! What colour should the steel be for a Hamon? And thanks, I know what a Hamon is and what defines it (the combination of martensite and pearlite and the transition between the two, I learned it from a documentary) but I didn't realize there was a difference between a Hamon and a simple edge quench. That makes a lot of sense! Edited June 20, 2020 by Kael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted June 20, 2020 Share Posted June 20, 2020 Yep. All hamon are quench lines, but not all quench lines are hamon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now