I finally talked with a blade smith at a hammer-in last weekend in Ohio

He said my edge quench technique was keeping me from getting a proper hamon line. I've been doing this for like 4 years and nobody ever told me that. Now I'm wondering if I should switch to a full quench on 1095 or stick with my usual oil. Has anyone else had an experienced smith call out a habit you thought was fine?

2 comments

2 Comments

graceblack9d ago

Oh man. That's a rough one. Four years of doing it wrong and nobody said a word? Classic hammer-in hospitality. Guess they figured you were going for that "wavy line of shame" look. If the smith specifically called out 1095, I'd listen. That steel is picky. Full quench it like a hot knife into butter and see if that hamon finally shows up. Or don't. Maybe you're just ahead of the curve with your "fade to nothing" technique.

allen.ivan9d ago

Gotta disagree on the wavy line thing... not every hamon needs to scream to be real.