Hamon (swordsmithing)

Common card · No. 459001

In swordsmithing, hamon (刃文) (from Japanese, literally "edge pattern") is a visible effect created on the blade by the hardening process. The hamon is the outline of the hardened zone (yakiba) which contains the cutting edge (ha). Blades made in this manner are known as differentially hardened, with a harder cutting edge than spine (mune) (for example: spine 40 HRC vs edge 58 HRC). This difference in hardness results from clay being applied on the blade (tsuchioki) prior to the cooling process (quenching). Less or no clay allows the edge to cool faster, making it harder but more brittle, while more clay allows the center (hira) and spine to cool slower, thus retaining its resilience. Hamon does not refer to the entire white area on the side of the blade, which is whitened by a polishing process called hadori to make it easier to see the hamon, a fuzzy line within the whitened area. The actual line of the hamon can be seen if one views the blade while changing the angle of the light shining...

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