Systematic approach toward perfecting Hamon line's Help needed

R

RHankins

Joined
Jul 14, 2007
Messages
190
Getting ready to invest both time/money and sweat in trying to achieve some wild hamon lines.
The plan is to systematicaly narrow down the variables to achiave the most consistant results.
Going to do a spread sheet to make recording the results easier and more organized than just taking notes.
Now my question is: What should the column/row headings be?
My thoughts are:
steel type
temperature
soak time
quench medium
number of normalizing cycles...
material thickness
grind type
YOUR suggestions are welcome along with this worked well for me ideas!
 
Since you just joined the Bladeforums - Welcome.
You haven't filled out your profile, so I don't have any info to go on, but your few posts seem to indicate that you are a newer maker.

The task you have set yourself is a daunting one. I'm not sure if Don Fogg (one of the Kings of Hamons) has done this type of systematic research. It would take making several hundred blades, (if you have only three variables in each of the seven categories listed, you will have to do 343 blades. With three repeats to assure accuracy, that would be 1029 blades) all identical ,and from the same batch per steel. The HT would have to be absolutely controlled and repeatable ( digitally controlled ovens, temperature controlled quench tanks, etc.). Then there is the clay application being exactly the same every time. ...And so on. To do this you certainly would need a spreadsheet.

Many accomplished swordsmiths can't predict exactly how the hamon will turn out each time because there are so many variables. The best way to get them "wild" (not exactly what you call wild, but I think you mean bold) is to do scores of blades (hundreds are better) and get the procedure down pat. My personal opinion is that is is more of a learned instinct (is that an oxymoron?) than a scientific study.

Spreadsheets are great for problem solving and tracking data. In making things like hamon, I think they might cloud the issue. Careful notes are important, whether they go on a spreadsheet or in a logbook (which you should be keeping,BTW).

When Ed Fowler does his experimentation, he uses only one steel and changes only one variable (with several repetitions to ensure accuracy) before moving on to a different variable. And even then,it takes him years to home in on all the possibilities.
Stacy
 
The mere fact of a hammon is only part of the equation, what can you learn from the etched blade, what the pattern reflects, the influence of the variations in the steel that can be seen through the pattern is the most significant and the dynamic reason for its existence if you seek performance.

If your search is only for cosmetic reasons it will be another story.
 
Walter Sorrels video is a good start. The biggest thing (as Stacy pointed out) is practice. The more you do the more repeatable things become. Most also do not realize that it is not just putting the blade in an etchant. The balance between etch and polish is very critical. Then if the temperatures are not correct either with the quench or in the temper you may not get a hamon or it may be partial or washed out.

In short practice practice practice. Get your control down and do not get discouraged.

Chuck
 
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