Kael 0 Posted June 19 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! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jerrod Miller 361 Posted June 19 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. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kael 0 Posted June 20 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? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alan Longmire 2,242 Posted June 20 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. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kael 0 Posted June 20 (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 by Kael Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alan Longmire 2,242 Posted June 20 Yep. All hamon are quench lines, but not all quench lines are hamon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
