Getting a dramatic hammon

[jmccustomknives]

I'm having trouble getting a distinct hammon. What do you guys do to get them to really stand out.

[pkrankow]

That is pretty wild already. I think mirror polish is where you are going.

Phil

[Rich Hale]

Have you looked into wot kinds of steel other use that are getting a nice line? Do you know wot the steel is you used?

[Dave Budd]

hamons are a mine field, especially when tinkering with what you want. The choice of steel, the amount and type of clay, the surface finish before HT, etc. The key things that make the difference in bringin out what is already there is the surface finish pre etch and how you etch it. Don't buff the surface, use good clean abrasives and try not to use strong etchants. Sometimes the abrasives used wet bring out a different finish than if used dry, mulitple cycles of light etching and light polishing work well, also the use or not of a metal polishiing paste will change how it looks

[jmccustomknives]

The steel is a file, the etchant is Ferric Chloride. Hand sanded down to 1500gr. I used refractory cement as the insulator. I did several etching and sanding cylcles with relitivly weak mix. I always see the hammon on others as being darker while when I clean mine up they are alway lighter and not as dramatic.

[basher]

most good pictures of hamon have black reflected in the metal.
remember that what you see in the steel is mainly differing abilities to reflect light.

[Steve Sells]

For the Hamon to show, you have to use a very shallow hardening steel, Old File isnt a steel type, its a salvage term. How much Mn does that old file have? you do know Mn aids in harden ability? there are other elements that assist here also, getting as pure to basic plain steel as you can will help, W series is better than most 10xx series, and if you can get some simple blister steel you are on your way.

Good luck, but your posted blade does look nice, so dont worry a lot about it.

[b_rogers]

Thats a good start there.

I have made a few Nicholson file knives, they seem to favor some sort of citric acid to get the lighter colored edge. I use lemon juice mainly, its a bit slow but it works a charm. There are a TON of factors that will affect the look, shape etc of the hamon. I also seem to have the best luck interrupted water quenching, or water first for 4, then 2 out, then into warm oil. YMMV

[Justin Carnecchia]

Check the American Bladesmith Society forum, look under topic of the month. Several months back the topic was hamons. It is a very complete resource on the subject with input from some of todays top makers.
Personally I would add aside from the steel (Call Aldo Bruno for W-2) the choice of clay (I use Satanite) and how it's applied, what it's quenched in(I use water but most use Parks 50) will go a long way in getting better hamons. You can polish all day long but unless the activity is there you are only going to get a wavy line.
Defenitely check the ABS site, I don't have time or would post a link, most all of the information you need is there. Read it and then practice makes perfect. You are off to a good start, keep at it. -Justin