GeneK's KITH Bowie

Chris Railey said:
I guess that is just what steel does West of the Mississippi River...The hamons Opaul and I etch are reversed.
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That’s really weird to me. I’ve done some searching online today on what makes the hardened steel light or dark and haven’t found a definitive answer. Maybe a different etchant or process would give different results.

As you can see in my video, the hard steel just wipes clean, no scrubbing needed. The unhardened steel would need a lot of scrubbing to lighten it up.
 
I don't know all the really detailed technical info but basically its hardened and tempered martensite that etches darker and different(cleaner?/smoother?) than other structures, i.e. pearlite. Other alloys such as manganese (and others?) may make steels appear to etch darker.

When it comes to polishing, I suspect the same differences in the microstructure of the hardened vs. non-hardened portions has an effect on how those areas polish and appear different colors also.

My experiences have been that the hardened and tempered zones etch darker than the softer pearlite zones but end up slightly lighter after polishing.
 
GeneK said:
That’s really weird to me. I’ve done some searching online today on what makes the hardened steel light or dark and haven’t found a definitive answer. Maybe a different etchant or process would give different results.

As you can see in my video, the hard steel just wipes clean, no scrubbing needed. The unhardened steel would need a lot of scrubbing to lighten it up.
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I etch in FC diluted either 3:1 or 4:1 with distilled water I cannot remember.
I thought you had some super secret method you might be willing to share. I did not know it was a steel mystery. Maybe KC can solve it when he comes along.
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The etching process you do is awesome! I did a little Neck knife made from 1080 that I tried to put a Hamon on (just to see if I could). It worked fine but i etched it like i did my first Damascus knife. It worked but was a little to much in my opinion. Wish I had saw this first!
 
I am going to try that polishing stuff you use though for sure. I use Flitz now and it takes too much of the oxides off IMO.
 
Thanks for taking the time to share how you do a hamon. I'm planing one in the next couple of weeks and this will be very helpful.
 
Nice Gene, I've had a few knives that had a slight hamon, but I've tried polishing one out. I just got some 1075 in and I've heard it makes great hamons, think I'll try it again on my next blade.
 
I've been trying to decide on what wood to use for the handles. I really like the looks of ironwood on a bowie, so ordered a few pieces large enough for these blades. Now to decide on the liners to use, I'm thinking red or orange. Thoughts?

 
Gene Kimmi said:
I've been trying to decide on what wood to use for the handles. I really like the looks of ironwood on a bowie, so ordered a few pieces large enough for these blades. Now to decide on the liners to use, I'm thinking red or orange. Thoughts?

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I think orange would be over powering. The iron wood is beautiful. I might suggest a more neutral color for the liners to compliment the iron wood.
 
Gene Kimmi said:
I've been trying to decide on what wood to use for the handles. I really like the looks of ironwood on a bowie, so ordered a few pieces large enough for these blades. Now to decide on the liners to use, I'm thinking red or orange. Thoughts?

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I do not care if you use purple liners that will be a great knife.
 
The contrast between the Ivory G10 and the Ironwood would be amazing. However white is always hard to keep clean...so...
I think a dark red would look good
 
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