Thread: A modern take on the Japanese razor...

The hamon is the result of differential heat treatment, it is the line where the martensite (hardened steel) microstructure stops and pearlite/cementite/ferrite (soft steel) take over. The process of differential heat treatment almost always makes some sort of hamon, but the Japanese clay coating techniques is what allows for the wavy line.

I learned a lot from the experience, it's really hard tell exactly whats going on inside the steel unless you break a specimen every once and a while.

Oh, and the blue area was just for aesthetics, I just heated it up with a torch. My sister was visiting that day and thought it looked cool all broken and bent up, so I drilled a hole in the tang, took the torch to it and gave it to her for a coat hook or conversation piece or something. She likes that kind of stuff.

It definitely hardend in the important spots and stayed tough in the rest. I like the picture with the side by side grain structures. That's a very good example of what you should be shooting for.

I say well done, except for the part about it breaking and not being a useful razor of course. That hurts a little. But the feedback is valuable.

Thanks Mike, I was pretty surprised at how coarse the bar stock's grain was, interesting.

Looking back I should have tempered it and then gave it the 90 degree treatment, like an unofficial ABS test or something. Next time I break one I'll give it a shot.

Jeesh..

All I do is ask for some pics of new razors, and Russel starts bending and breaking stuff up!


Next time I guess I'll say "please"

What's next ? Tameshigiri ?