I suffer that frustration too. It was a clients blade and the Hamon won' be seen till it's ground and etched so I rarely get to see the end result ☹☹☹☹
Explaining the process, as well as the logic behind each step & a little thermodynamics thrown in. Well done! And just like that you have a new, very quiet apprentice.
Big help here! After one failed attempt at a hamone I think I was far too thin on the clay and keeping it even on each side. I’ll have to give it another try! Thanks
When talking about making the clay the same on both sides, I found it kind of funny that he said "if you don't, it gets kind of wishy washy", but it's also how you bring out ashi. A little bilingual unintentional link.
Possibly! I like to leave .04" to .05" on the edge before quenching in parks 50 and have had good success, and going up to 120 grit helps too. 36 or 60 is just a bit too rough and can hide problems. Another potential cause for cracking is forging too cold and creating fractures that develop into cracks, leaving corners and edges too sharp rather than lightly rounding off, and poor normalizing/annealing practices.
A few do's and don'ts wrt heat treating that I practice to avoid cracking and warping:- 1) Never pre-grind bevels. They won't be EXACTLY the same and any asymmetry can induce bending. 2) Ensure there are NO cross scratches on the edge of the blade. #36 or#60 grit cross scratches are great crack initiators. I grind edges longitudinally at #120 or finer 3) If the blade has been forged, normalise from 30-50 Celsius (50-90 Fahrenheit) above the hardening temp and cool to room temp before hardening. This needs to be with accurate temp control. It will unlikely be a good normalise from a forge.
The bevels are forged in for japanese swords and the blade is ground smooth for even heating and quenching. Sharpening and honing are always last no matter the time and place.
Yeah, that one has been cut out of a bar of steel so they'll grind the bevel after it's heat treated. Final sharpening is usually the ladt thing you do so you're less likely to cut yourself
Blade sharpening is always the last op in my shop. Knives can be bad tempered little buggers and if they get sharpened too soon they WILL bite you 😂😂😂😂
@michaelg1352 sometimes the hamon has to be brought out through polishing and chemical treatments. Maybe dude did the video on his coffee break and didn't feel like we needed that much sexiness.
Wire is not needed I’ve been doing this to the blades I forge for 30+ years I spent 7 years in Japan learning from the best I add wood ash and charcoal to my clay mix I have no issues with it falling off it’s actually hard to get off the blade when done I have developed a method which I use the deionized water and run it through a nano bubble pump for my quench not saying what you’re doing is wrong just like putting out there what I do we all learn something from each other
I love the amount of detail you show for doing this. Best one I have seen so far. I wanted to see the finished hamon on the blade.
I suffer that frustration too. It was a clients blade and the Hamon won' be seen till it's ground and etched so I rarely get to see the end result ☹☹☹☹
Explaining the process, as well as the logic behind each step & a little thermodynamics thrown in. Well done!
And just like that you have a new, very quiet apprentice.
Big help here! After one failed attempt at a hamone I think I was far too thin on the clay and keeping it even on each side. I’ll have to give it another try! Thanks
fantastic video, thank you!
Very detailed instructions
Great video and tips! Thanks guys!
Thanks Tobias
Myself, Mike and Michael (postees) would love to see a part 2.
The blade coating he is speaking of. Does anyone have a link? I cannot find it - but think it may be ATP 641.
When you were talking about the degrees of temperature, would that be on the Celsius scale ?
Yes, 95C would be right at 203 or so in the Fahrenheit scale, or just below boiling.
Is this all being done before the edge has been grinded ?
I also put always too much water when prepping the clay. Even when being careful, it's so deceiving.
When talking about making the clay the same on both sides, I found it kind of funny that he said "if you don't, it gets kind of wishy washy", but it's also how you bring out ashi. A little bilingual unintentional link.
About 1/3 of the kitchen knives I do with Hamons seem to crack using Parks 50. Is it because I've been rough grinding pre heat treat too thin?
Possibly! I like to leave .04" to .05" on the edge before quenching in parks 50 and have had good success, and going up to 120 grit helps too. 36 or 60 is just a bit too rough and can hide problems. Another potential cause for cracking is forging too cold and creating fractures that develop into cracks, leaving corners and edges too sharp rather than lightly rounding off, and poor normalizing/annealing practices.
A few do's and don'ts wrt heat treating that I practice to avoid cracking and warping:-
1) Never pre-grind bevels. They won't be EXACTLY the same and any asymmetry can induce bending.
2) Ensure there are NO cross scratches on the edge of the blade. #36 or#60 grit cross scratches are great crack initiators. I grind edges longitudinally at #120 or finer
3) If the blade has been forged, normalise from 30-50 Celsius (50-90 Fahrenheit) above the hardening temp and cool to room temp before hardening. This needs to be with accurate temp control. It will unlikely be a good normalise from a forge.
@@clarkeknives4159never pre grind bevels? You must like grinding 🥵
Would have been better had you shown the finished blade
Is it normal to leave the blade sharpening until later?
As much as I know, yes. In Japanese system it was the last step of the entire making process, after polishing.
The bevels are forged in for japanese swords and the blade is ground smooth for even heating and quenching. Sharpening and honing are always last no matter the time and place.
Yeah, that one has been cut out of a bar of steel so they'll grind the bevel after it's heat treated. Final sharpening is usually the ladt thing you do so you're less likely to cut yourself
Blade sharpening is always the last op in my shop. Knives can be bad tempered little buggers and if they get sharpened too soon they WILL bite you 😂😂😂😂
Why didn’t you show your finished work?
I'm guessing because they let the bladesmiths do the finishing.
@ I meant the hamon, not all the polishing and sharpening.
@michaelg1352 sometimes the hamon has to be brought out through polishing and chemical treatments. Maybe dude did the video on his coffee break and didn't feel like we needed that much sexiness.
@ good point
Wire is not needed I’ve been doing this to the blades I forge for 30+ years I spent 7 years in Japan learning from the best I add wood ash and charcoal to my clay mix I have no issues with it falling off it’s actually hard to get off the blade when done I have developed a method which I use the deionized water and run it through a nano bubble pump for my quench not saying what you’re doing is wrong just like putting out there what I do we all learn something from each other
👏👏👏👏👏🤜🤛
You gotta show the finished work man. That’s just mean😂
hammony 😂