Integral W1, Carved Ebony Handle w/ Hamon

Happy Saturday Everyone:

Here's one I made in order to learn some stuff.

I've played with a bit of carving, but needed a lot more practice (still do!). So I decided to challenge myself and try to carve a face of some kind with the caveat that it still had to form a comfortable handle for a knife.

I have also not really played with getting a hamon beside for one failed attempt with O1 a long while ago.

Finally, I hadn't done many integrals, and those I had built were a bit of a disappointment.

So . . . why not try all three in one blade, right? I ordered some satanite, some round stock and pulled a chunk of ebony out of the materials drawer.

Attatched is the result.

Lots of lessons learned on this one. A big one was the placement of the satanite clay. I thought I was putting it on really ragged to create an active, interestin hamon. Instead, I got this smooth line. I guess I really need to make the clay placement dramatic next time.

The hamon popped very easily, however. Just one quick dip in the FC.

Cheers!

--Dave