Mostly looks right. Don't quench in canola, it isn't fast enough. Use either Parks or water. If water expect some losses.

On the interrupted quench I go back in till cool.

For the polish I go to 1500-2000, then switch to powdered abrasives, then etch. Personally I get pretty good results with hot vinegar. Either way be sure blade is perfectly clean before going into the etchant, most people use fantastic as the last step in cleaning. As for the polish it starts with sanding and is the whole process.

I would say check the topic of the month on hamons, but I'm guessing you already have( If you havn't do, lots of great info from very talented smiths). Doing what you have above will produce a hamon, how it turns out will depend on sublties of how you apply the clay, what temp it is quenched from, what you quench in, and your polishing. That said the biggest factor I have found is practice. Lots of practice. Hope this helps, Justin

Sounds like what I do with old files only I use old engine oil for my quenching process. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

Steve, it looks pretty good. Except you probably want to go to 1475 on the hardening and soak. I use parks 50 at approximately 80-90 degrees and do not do an interrupted quench. I will remove the blade at around 600-700 to check for straightness and adjust if needed, then back into the oil to cool. I will then do a quick clean up with a 120 trizact belt to check the hamon. It should be easily seen in light. Then into the tempering oven at 425 to 450.

As for polishing. I hand rub my blades to 1200 then etch as you said, making sure the blade is squeaky clean, dawn detergent works great. Then clean off oxides with the 3M and repeat until I get what I want. After that comes the polishing. I use Flitz, Simichrome, or Maas at first, paying more attention to the area above the hamon than below. Then it is on to 4F pumice powder. I use a kleenex with oil and the pumice and just go until I like what I see. This does take a while, but should give you a bright area above the hamon and a frosty look below it. It should also bring out some of the subtle things. You can go farther and use diamond polishing pastes to bring out even more. The 4f pumice is available through woodworking suppliers and the diamond pastes through companies like Rio Grande.

Good luck and have fun.

Brion

|quoted:

Mostly looks right. Don't quench in canola, it isn't fast enough. Use either Parks or water. If water expect some losses.

On the interrupted quench I go back in till cool.

For the polish I go to 1500-2000, then switch to powdered abrasives, then etch. Personally I get pretty good results with hot vinegar. Either way be sure blade is perfectly clean before going into the etchant, most people use fantastic as the last step in cleaning. As for the polish it starts with sanding and is the whole process.

I would say check the topic of the month on hamons, but I'm guessing you already have( If you havn't do, lots of great info from very talented smiths). Doing what you have above will produce a hamon, how it turns out will depend on sublties of how you apply the clay, what temp it is quenched from, what you quench in, and your polishing. That said the biggest factor I have found is practice. Lots of practice. Hope this helps, Justin

Justin,

Thanks for the advice. Can't get quenching oil here, so maybe I'll try brine (seems it might give me a better chance than water). Anyone use brine? I'm assuming it should be hot--near boiling? Am going to look into whether I can transport quenching oil in a checked bag...

For the hot vinegar, how long do you soak each time? Would any acid work? I think I can get HCl here, but I was trying to avoid using it...Not sure I can get ferric chloride here, although I will check the local Radio Shack.

Again, thanks!

|quoted:

Sounds like what I do with old files only I use old engine oil for my quenching process. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

Is straight engine oil faster than canola? I was thinking of trying Hrisoulas' Light Oil formula (one part diesel, two parts transmission fluid, one part motor oil), especially if I can't get ahold of some actual quenching oil here.

|quoted:

Steve, it looks pretty good. Except you probably want to go to 1475 on the hardening and soak. I use parks 50 at approximately 80-90 degrees and do not do an interrupted quench. I will remove the blade at around 600-700 to check for straightness and adjust if needed, then back into the oil to cool. I will then do a quick clean up with a 120 trizact belt to check the hamon. It should be easily seen in light. Then into the tempering oven at 425 to 450.

As for polishing. I hand rub my blades to 1200 then etch as you said, making sure the blade is squeaky clean, dawn detergent works great. Then clean off oxides with the 3M and repeat until I get what I want. After that comes the polishing. I use Flitz, Simichrome, or Maas at first, paying more attention to the area above the hamon than below. Then it is on to 4F pumice powder. I use a kleenex with oil and the pumice and just go until I like what I see. This does take a while, but should give you a bright area above the hamon and a frosty look below it. It should also bring out some of the subtle things. You can go farther and use diamond polishing pastes to bring out even more. The 4f pumice is available through woodworking suppliers and the diamond pastes through companies like Rio Grande.

Good luck and have fun.

Brion

Thanks for the advice--it is great to hear what successful smiths do. I put down really specific temps, but I have very poor temperature control at this point, so the truth is I'll just be going a bit above non-magnetic, trying to hold it there for as long as possible, and then quenching. I plan to pick up an IR thermometer this summer to get some idea of what color, in what light, is what temperature.

I will pick up some of the polishing pastes you mentioned as well--I think I may even be able to get a few of those locally, as folks here do like their stuff clean. I haven't actually done any true polishing yet on a blade yet, so it should be interesting. A question: how much pumice powder to you end up using on a bowie? I supply myself once a year when I head back to the US for the summer, and sometimes I over or undershoot on certain items (I have a ton of soapstone pencils and borax, for example, but I'm almost out of blade-steel).

Is straight engine oil faster than canola? I was thinking of trying Hrisoulas' Light Oil formula (one part diesel, two parts transmission fluid, one part motor oil), especially if I can't get ahold of some actual quenching oil here.

Steve, I haven't ever tried this myself but a Neo Tribal Metal smith-er told me he uses solid transmission fluid to quench his blades because it had a flash point where it would flame up so if it did flame up he would know he had done something wrong and would try to start over at the annealing proses. I am not a Master Smith but I herd this from one so I thought I might tell you about it. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

|quoted:

Justin,

Thanks for the advice. Can't get quenching oil here, so maybe I'll try brine (seems it might give me a better chance than water). Anyone use brine? I'm assuming it should be hot--near boiling? Am going to look into whether I can transport quenching oil in a checked bag...

For the hot vinegar, how long do you soak each time? Would any acid work? I think I can get HCl here, but I was trying to avoid using it...Not sure I can get ferric chloride here, although I will check the local Radio Shack.

Again, thanks!

Steve,

for etching you simply need something acidic. The stronger the PH level, the faster the etch. You can use Coca-Cola if need be. I used it to re-etch a small custom damascus skinner knife in my knife shop. The maker had polished off the etching on the backspine and I had a customer claim that it wasn't damascus because it wasn't etched on the spine. To prevent any future "experts" from sharing their mighty wisdom about the knife, I took the knife, popped open a can of Coke, put the blade through the opening and then checked on it every two hours till I got the level of etching I wanted on the back spine. I stuck the blade in baking soda for a little bit then cleaned it and finally polished it with Flitz. The etching is now quite visible.

**edit**

<img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//blink.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':blink:' /> oops, I was looking at the Damascus header on the front page when I clicked on the link for this thread. But Coca-Cola might work to bring out a hamon as well. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

Any advice out there for the subcritical anneal without an oven or salt baths? I've heard of folks having success doing a super-critical anneal (maybe up to 1450 or so) and then cooling in vermiculite or ash, but does anyone do this from 1200?

Sounds good to me. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

I agree with Brion though- I don't interupt if I have clay on the blade. I do if I'm NOT using clay and want a lot of activity in the blade.

For Park 50, I like the oil to be in the 60-80F range, and austenitize around 1460-1470F. If I'm going into brine, I get down around 1425, but I haven't even tried that in quite some time.

Hopefully you share what you come up with! <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />