Christmas Hamon!

Merle said:
Those Hamons are great! I've been struggling to get a good one with 1075 and you nailed it on your first try. But I now have some W2 that I will try next.

What's your etch process to bring them out?

Andy
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Thank you very much Andy! I am completely addicted to the hamon and the knife gods have been kind to me so far.

From what I have been able to gather W-2 is the bee's knees for Hamons. Where did you order your W-2 from? I got mine from NJSB.

Since I am a noobie, I am going in slow to the etch. I use the standard 3 parts distilled water to 1 part FC. Once the blades have been cleaned with acetone and then with denatured alcohol (that may be overkill but hey..) I dip into the FC mix for 10 sec. Remove and blast with ammonia based glass cleaner and scrub with a shop towel pretty good, then I polish both sides with Flitz for a few minutes, then clean off the blade and see what I got. Then back to etching again for 10 sec. I repeat this process as many times as necessary to arrive at the look I like. My etch time is never more than 10 sec each time. I too am just experimenting and trying to find the right balance of things myself. 2 or 3 dips have thus far been good enough but I am going to explore more dips to see what it looks like.

I heat treated three more blades today but I also had a ton of leather work to do and get out the door so I didn't get much more than a quick cleanup after tempering and hit them with wd-40 until I can get back to them later this week. Tried some more busy designs with the clay so we'll see what's there after I get them hand sanded. Pictures to follow.
 
Thanks... I got my W2 from Aldo as well. I'm no expert but I think the alloy is they biggest factor in getting a good hamon.

Your etch process is pretty similar to what I do, although I leave it in the acid a lot longer. Next knife I will try the shorter dips.
 
Alright folks, here is a quick update on my status. I busted up one of my fingers pretty bad on the table saw while trying to cut up handle material. So, have not gotten anything done in the past three weeks since then. Luckily it was just a laceration and no bone/nerve damage so I should be back on track soon here (not soon enough!!) Tip of the day, safety first!

Now, I am starting to test out with longer etches as I seem to be attracted to darker blades with more contrast. I tried a few 5 minute etches on my FC mix and they seem to be moving in the right direction. I will have more pictures once I heal enough to be able to get blades going again.
 
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