View Single Post
  #5  
Old 03-07-2019, 01:06 PM
Ray Rogers's Avatar
Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
Founding Member / Moderator
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Wauconda, WA
Posts: 9,840
Where the line "should" be is partly the way most people do it, partly esthetic appeal, and partly practical. Practical because the hard steel is below the line so over the years of use that area can possibly be sharpened away. Another practical reason is that with the hamon higher up on the blade it will be in a thicker cross section. Since a hamon represents the most stressed area in the blade it makes sense to put it where it is less likely to cause a crack. In short, hamons are interesting to look at but they tend to make for weaker blades in modern steels.

I've never been a fan of Japanese terminology myself, hamon is sufficient description for me. It is the demarcation point between the hard and soft parts of the blade, the place where the crystalline structure can get completely unpredictable for most of us. I say most of us because the average guy fooling with a hamon doesn't have the heat control necessary to really know what's happening along that line. Done exactly right, a differentially hardened blade (which is really what this is about) can be very tough and toughness was the original point of creating a hamon back when heat treatment was poorly understood and steel quality wasn't very predictable or consistent. But, the further apart in hardness that the two areas of the blade become the more likely the blade will fail under stress. Unfortunately, the greater that difference the better the hamon usually looks. And that is why the finishing efforts to 'develop' a hamon are so complicated. Get the heat treatment right and you really have to work at the finish to make the line show up well (although a LOT depends on the steel you choose).

Anyway, we all try a hamon sooner or later. Modern steels don't require that type of heat treatment to be tough and most are tougher without it. If looks is your goal then considering the effort involved I would only choose to do it if the knife could draw a proportionately higher price. But, that's just me ...


__________________

Your question may already have been answered - try the Search button first!







Last edited by Ray Rogers; 03-07-2019 at 01:08 PM.
Reply With Quote