‘Smoky’ Hamon

[Mark S.]

A recent acquisition has brought a question to my mind about polish, and I apologize if previously discussed.  Most of my blades have a rather ‘white’ appearance to the hamon, but what process is used that causes the ‘smoky’ appearance as shown in my pics?  All are same blade, just different angles.  I know I’ve seen it before (not saying it’s wrong or bad) and I just never thought about it, but I guess the reason I’m bringing this up now is how prominent it is on this blade and it made me go… hmmmm???  Probably a very basic question, but don’t remember it being discussed before?

 

[Mark S.]

In pictures, smokiness disappears from this angle, but is still evident in-hand. 

[Mark S.]

I know this is a really basic question and hope it won’t cause too many  

[rematron]

I like the activities of this blade, Mark.  Wispy like fresh snow being tossed up from the ground by a breeze.  The angled pictures look like a hadori polish but the pictures looking straight down on it look more like sashikomi.  I'm wondering if it's an old hadori polish that is reverting to sashikomi.  But I feel silly saying even as much as I have.  I'm curious to see what the experienced people here say.  My katana has similar differences when held at different angles so maybe I'll learn a little for myself as well.  Thanks for sharing.

[Larason2]

I think this is evidence of the use of jizuya stones. In his book, Takaiwa says he never uses them, because he doesn't think they make any difference. However, other polishers do. I don't have a lot of personal experience with jizuya stones, but I would guess the effect would be subtle. If the polish is half sashikomi and half hadori, that just means they polished it with hazuya more than sashikomi, but not as much as hadori. That doesn't necessarily mean that jizuya were used or not. A hazy effect could also just be associated with the hazuya application technique. Different schools have different techniques for their application, and the result comes out differently depending.

[Shugyosha]

I’d tentatively suggest that perhaps friction from a tight saya that has taken whatever has been used to whiten the hamon away.

 

You almost get what you’d expect to see in photo negative. Just apply the usual rules back to front. With suitable lighting you should still be able to track a Nioi guchi. 

[Baba Yaga]

Smoky Salmon in a tight saya? That's a knew one 

 

[Shuko]

8 hours ago, Baba Yaga said:

Smoky Salmon in a tight saya? That's a knew one 

 

 

Is that expensive. salmon .........................🙌

[DoTanuki yokai]

Yea normal appearance of Hadori in bad light i would say 

 

if you are unsure if it could be some hardening effect you should look at the Kissaki, it doesn't  get the Hadori makeup. 

[Mark S.]

Thank you all.  I really should have labeled this thread “smoky hadori’ and you would think I know better than to call it the ‘hamon’.  Don’t know why I did that… but I did.  So if I confused anyone, I apologize.  I am focusing on the darker grey hadori polish above the hamon.  

[Baba Yaga]

On 11/2/2023 at 3:44 AM, DoTanuki yokai said:

Yea normal appearance of Hadori in bad light i would say 

 

if you are unsure if it could be some hardening effect you should look at the Kissaki, it doesn't  get the Hadori makeup. 

 

The Kissaki sure in the hell receives hadori. Made up with makeup Boshi is all over majority of 2nd rate polishes. 

 

I'm believe collectors don't understand the difference between a top polish and the "usual" internet polish posting:\.  

[Larason2]

Jizuya, as I said. It seems that the purpose of both jizuya and hazuya is to replace the slurry impregnated in the metal with a slightly different colour of slurry. Uchigumori slurry is brown/grey, Jizuya is grey, and hazuya is white. When a sashikomi polish is finished with Uchigumori, it does have a slight brown colour. If you use another stone to generate a very brown slurry on the uchigumori (say with a koma nagura), you can get a much more noticeable brown in the sashikomi (looks more rustic). When you use the jizuya on an area that was previously polished by uchigumori, it becomes more grey, and it therefore reflects light differently, which can make it look darker from some directions (lighter from others). It's a subtle effect though, maybe that's why Takaiwa doesn't bother. On your piece, it does seem to give an interesting contrast in some areas compared to others. There's no other explanation that I'm aware of for differences in colour or texture in the areas of the blade you indicated.