I want to see your Hamon

[Salem Straub 168]

Boy, Stuart sure puts a nice transparent polish on his blades. Hard to tell from a photo, but it looks quite similar to the quality of a traditional Japanese job!
Of course, the hamon is great on that, and to have it so consistently nice and well-placed over that great length is nothing to sneeze at.

[Jan Ysselstein 66]

Stuart,

A beautiful hamon indeed, thanks for sharing it here.

 

Jan

[Wes Detrick 487]

Aldo's W2 quenched in Parks 50, and then etched and polished.

 

 

 

[Salem Straub 168]

That's really nice, Wes!

[C.Anderson 13]

Aldo's W2 quenched in Parks 50, and then etched and polished.

 

4.jpg

 

 

Gorgeous my friend!!

[Wes Detrick 487]

Thanks guys!

[C.Anderson 13]

Thanks guys!

Absolutely!

 

Out of curiosity...did you harden this one in a forge or oven? Either way you've gotta love W2 lol.

[Wes Detrick 487]

Absolutely!

 

Out of curiosity...did you harden this one in a forge or oven? Either way you've gotta love W2 lol.

 

In my forge (gas). I use a baffle so the heat is more even. And yes, I love W2. I know that you use it almost exclusively if I am not mistaken...

[Joshua States 1,722]

That's a beauty Wes.

[Wes Detrick 487]

That's a beauty Wes.

 

Thanks Joshua, I am glad you like it!

[SBranson 2]

Aldo's W2 quenched in Parks 50, and then etched and polished.

 

4.jpg

 

 

 

There's a fluidity that's unusual in a Parks50 quench. Very fetching.

 

And to those who commented on my hamon... thanks very much for the comments

Edited January 11, 2016 by SBranson

[Wes Detrick 487]

 

There's a fluidity that's unusual in a Parks50 quench. Very fetching.

 

And to those who commented on my hamon... thanks very much for the comments

 

 

I have only ever Parks quench W2. Does it not regularly produce fluidity?

[SBranson 2]

Maybe fluidity is the wrong word but I find Parks50 quenches tend to have cloudy artifacts whereas yours looks to have some of that playfulness of flames particularly the spot in the upper left corner of the photo.

I keep trying to chase that effect but haven't had as much luck with parks50 as with water. Anyway, nice work!

Edited January 12, 2016 by SBranson

[Wes Detrick 487]

Maybe fluidity is the wrong word but I find Parks50 quenches tend to have cloudy artifacts whereas yours looks to have some of that playfulness of flames particularly the spot in the upper left corner of the photo.

I keep trying to chase that effect but haven't had as much luck with parks50 as with water. Anyway, nice work!

 

Got it. I wish that I could tell you what I did to get it, but it seriously wasn't planned. I can tell you that the Parks was room temp (~65 or 70 F or so) and that the knife was Austenized at about 1475F. I have a picture of the clay(wet) application if you are interested in that. Thanks Stuart! That means a lot coming from you.

[SBranson 2]

Sure, I'd like to see that and if you don't mind can you tell me the spine thickness of that blade? Thanks!

[C.Anderson 13]

Sure, I'd like to see that and if you don't mind can you tell me the spine thickness of that blade? Thanks!

Count me in on this information as well Wes! You know I'm always looking for more information on w2 and hamon .

[Wes Detrick 487]

My pleasure gentlemen. Here you go.

The blade is 3/16th inch (4.76mm) at its thickest at the ricasso, and distally tapers all the way down to the tip. The clay was maybe a taste more than 1/16th inch thick. I typically don't apply it very thick It was applied a bit randomly, but I tried to make sure some of the ashi were disconnected from the spine clay. This was done on both sides. Clay is just watered down Rutlands fire cement; nothing special. Not sure if any of that is a help.

 

Edited January 14, 2016 by Wes Detrick

[Austin_Lyles 148]

Very helpful Wes. Thanks!

[SBranson 2]

Interesting, Thanks! I have to ask how that little nib down at the spanish notch survived. I would think that would warp or worse. If it did survive fine that's very interesting and opens some doors for me creatively. Thanks again.

[Wes Detrick 487]

Very helpful Wes. Thanks!

 

My pleasure Austin! It good to return some help to the forum instead of being a constant mooch.

 

 

Interesting, Thanks! I have to ask how that little nib down at the spanish notch survived. I would think that would warp or worse. If it did survive fine that's very interesting and opens some doors for me creatively. Thanks again.

 

Certainly Stuart, glad that it maybe helpful. Yep, the Spanish notch survived, although between you and me, I was paranoid that i was going to snap the thing off or it was going to warp badly. There was no warpage either and I didn't break it, thankfully.

Here is the thread for the finished knife, if you want to see the notch. There is a close up of it in there.

[Tucker Parris 2]

My first bowie knife and my first successful hamon... she's 1095 and about 6.5inch blade length and 11" over all length.

[Wes Detrick 487]

Welcome to the forum Tucker! That's a good first bowie and hamon.

[Tucker Parris 2]

Thanks Wes. this seems like a great community, lots of knowledge around thats for sure.

[C.Anderson 13]

Thanks Wes. this seems like a great community, lots of knowledge around thats for sure.

Absolutely! This community is easily the best general knife and sword smithing community i have been able to find in almost ten years. The respect, support, and knowledge here is unparalleled . Welcome aboard, and congratulations on the first hamon! Its addictive to say the least lol, in all of my time doing this I've never made a knife without one .

[Joshua States 1,722]

Thanks Wes. this seems like a great community, lots of knowledge around thats for sure.

 

All the know-how, none of the attitude.

This forum rocks my world.

 

Nice knife Tucker. what's the wood?

Edited February 2, 2016 by Joshua States