The Forging of Hamon

If you're fond of Japanese steel, you may have heard of forged hamon. It is an important part of the process to temper katanas, the popular Japanese swords covered in legend and mythology, which are in fact very real and effective.

For this reason, in our desire to bring the Eastern world of the popular samurai and ninjas closer to the West and their customs and culture, we are going to learn today about the forging of katanas, what a hamon is and how important it is in the process.

What is hamon in forging

The hamon is a tempering line. It appears on the blade after passing the yaki-ire process (it is the hardening method with clay that - as you may know - is a differential process, very characteristic of all Japanese swords). That is to say, it is a kind of pattern.

Obviously, being a pattern, not all of them are the same. Thus, depending on the type of tsuchi-tori that is applied, different patterns of hamon can be created.

The topic is very extensive. But to summarize and go straight to the point, we can say that it has a very basic division that is established in terms of two shapes of the tempering line. These are:

- Sugu-ha: that is, the classic straight line. In this case, in turn, three extra types are distinguished, which are separated by the width of the pattern, and which come to be the following according to their width from largest to smallest: hirosugu-ha, chüsugu-ha and hososugu-ha.

- Midare-ha: in this case, we are talking about irregular lines which can look like waves.

As you can see, the katana forging process is extensive and complex. Only the experts who know the subject thoroughly are able to find real quality Japanese swords. We try to explain it so that everyone can learn about this fascinating culture and we offer some of the best Japanese sabres on the market.

Image courtesy of Ian Armstrong