Hd Gane

[Rode Neagle]

Ive been experimenting with Mokume Gane for the last few weeks. My first go at it was with copper and nickel silver, it went fairly well but the copper was too thin and was hard to see. The only problem really was that the little billet cracked around the edges. I'm not sure about what temperature I should be looking for (in color). The next couple of goes I ran out of nickel silver so I used 15N20. And I know, 15N20 is going to have a higher weld temperature. But, it kind of worked because I used a much thicker stock for the copper. But, I realize I really should use nickel silver (expensive as it is) and I will in the future. So, I guess my big question is about temperature and what flux if any should I use. I tried borax as well as a liquid flus used for soldering copper. Any help would be much appreciated.

No flux. If you have a gas forge it is significantly easier. I unfortunately only have a coal forge atm, so my methods may be a little different. My method actually comes from someone else who of which name escapes me.

I took a pair of sacrificial tongs that could hold a stack of quarter together, and clamps them semi tight. From there I stuck them in the forge until the stack looked wet. Doesn't take long. Copper has a lower melting point than nickel. Once it is wet I take it out of the forge and squish it immediately with my post vice, tong jaws and all. Don't need a press, it doesnt take much. The post vice gives enough even pressure.

From there I get it hot and forge it slowly to shape. Go too fast and it comes apart on you. Try to grind off any uneveness that tends to buildup on the sides. They like to de-laminate a lot when struck on the sides with uneven layers. If you work any cold, you only get a few whacks with the hammer before you have anneal again (Bring to glow heat and quench in water).

Thanks Daniel, I will have to give the stack of quarters a try. You know, if you sold one of your three anvils you could build a really nice gas forge. Yes, I have been watching your videos. Good stuff man.

Yea they have uses, whether for forging, or as tables. I did recently put the one that was doing nothing to use. Check out my japanese smithy coming together. Don't even have to leave the stool to beat on steel by hand.

Give the stack one solid hit with the hammer. This cycle is just to get the pieces in intimate contact with each other, not necessarily to fuse them. This helps make the fusing much easier when the pieces aren't already touching wonderfully. If you are starting with nice flat stock you can probably skip this step.

They should be fused now. Continue to work them at "wet heat", starting there at least and you can easily keep going until the billet isn't glowing. If (when) anything delaminates, just heat and re-fuse it.

*Coins can be anything with coin-like geometry, be it pure metal, alloys, or pre-fused layers such as some modern US coins (quarters and dimes). Note that it is technically illegal to do this to US coins, but as the law is intended to curb counterfeiting mokume gane makers on a small scale are not likely to be prosecuted.

Quarters are fairly foolproof, as for some reason the coating on them acts as a flux, so no need to use borax or even clean them too vigorously. As for pressure, I would favour a purely compressive force squeezing them rather than impact. Presses are more controllable for setting this sort of weld (if you have one). I don't, so I use a heavy hammer with light blows and it has always worked fine for me. Reducing them slowly and annealing often helps mitigate cracking, and grinding away any first signs of cracks or crumbling prevents it from eating away the entire billet.

What metals are used tends to be regulated by how much one is into makume-gane. Copper and nickel alloy sandwiched coins are easy and thus popular. However, there are other combinations of metals that weld up quite well plus some others that require inert gas ovens. If you really want to get into the productions of makume-gane get some books and study it. It's an art unto itself.

Thanks you guys, your input helped a lot. I did a test with 2 dozen quarter, it worked pretty good. But, I think I will need a lot more quarters to make anything of substantial size. I made two stacks of 12 and sandwiched them between two sacrificial plates made from 1/8" by 1 1/2" bar stock and bound them together with bailing wire. After bringing them up to temp I put them in the press and squeezed them down to about 3/8" thickness. I didn't go any further because I got my shipment of belts for my KMG and switched over to grinding another knife I'm working on. So, I will have to go back to the Mokume later and see if it turned out ok. Thanks again for your input, I really do appreciate it.

Copper and nickel silver will work nicely, but you have to be careful on temperatures. If you go more than about 50 degrees F over the melting point of the lower melting point metal, you will create a eutectic alloy of the two metals. This is useful when making mokume in a forge, but If it's held at higher temps for too long the whole stack will just turn into a puddle of that new eutectic alloy. Once the bonding is done, try forging at a barely red heat and work it gently. If you see edge cracks starting, stop and grind or file them out or they'll just spread.

I'm curious as to how the copper/15n20 mix will forge. I'd imagine that the 15n20 will be quite a bit more stiff than the copper and so the copper will just mush around and squeeze out from the edges, etc.

You need to have the forge atmosphere as reducing as possible, oxygen is the enemy. Consequently, a little borax as flux can be used, but its just as a barrier to oxygen, so flux lightly and early in the heating.

Also, surface preparation is more important with mokume than with steel. Have everything flat and in contact. Sand everything clean just before stacking, don't touch the surfaces with your fingers, etc.

Well, technically damascus steel is a form of mokume-gane. Just with different alloys of iron rather than cupric or other alloys. I do remember some years back there was an article in one of the knife magazines of someone welding up steel shims and sheet copper. It wouldn't be functional as blade material but it would be decorative. In the book that I have on makume-gane it does give combinations of metal that include steel. I imagine that they would be some that need an inert gas oven to form them in.

From my experience, mokume was quite easy to "forge weld" together. I went the quarter method( about 4 bucks worth). I made 2 plates with holes on each and basically clamped them together till the quarters looked "wet". I tapped the stack together with a lightweight hammer. No flux. I also used a propane forge. Good luck!

I used the 15N20 for an experiment, and because I ran out of the nickel silver sheet I had. I figured since 15N20 was 2% nickel and the stock I was using was only .050" and the copper I had was .125" the copper might hold up long enough for the 15N20 to get to weld heat. It worked, but the copper spread out and the 15N20 stayed its original size. The only thing was that when I hit it with a hammer when cold it delaminated. The quarters worked, but I think I will just wait until I have the money to buy another sheet of nickel silver before I make another billet.

Welding steel, and fusing non-ferrous metals are two very different things. While I acknowledge that there have been successful experiments using steel and copper-based alloys, it's certainly not traditional, nor is it easy.

I prefer the fusion technique, as I think it's the most straightforward to understand and apply. I've done it with both coins and sheet. Most important is to understand the materials you're fusing, their relative melting points, the characteristics of their oxides, and the galvanic reaction potential between them.

Just so you know what's in there. I'd avoid it, personally, for the zinc content... at those temperatures, I would expect fumes I have absolutely zero interest in breathing, and I don't know how your shop's set up, but my face is pretty close to the work when I'm fusing.

This is a great polymer clay tutorial that has many uses. Mokume-gane can be used in beads, projects, jewelry, covering, and even as a background for textured and embossed pieces. Mokume-gane is versatile and offers hundreds of color combinations, color palettes, and unique design patterns, that you can not simply plan.

Mokume gane is one of my favourite techniques! I love the flexibility of it and there is no way for it to go wrong. As you said there are so many different way to do this. I spotted a couple things I can do differently thanks for the tutorial!

It is not because it is cheaper than the precious metals that are in most of my rings. The rings I make are labor intensive. The mokume process is very time consuming and exacting. We hand make every ring for a customer; we do not mass-produce or machine-produce these rings. I and my studio assistant make every piece of mokume gane. We cut, clean, stack fire and forge the mokume billet from the individual sheets of metal. Most of the metals I alloy, cast, forge and roll into sheet myself to get the color and working properties I want for my mokume gane billets. Almost all the rings we make are intended to be wedding or engagement rings. They hold great significance for my customers as the visible symbol of their love and commitment for one another. Because of this I strive to make the best mokume gane rings we can possibly produce for each and every person who has entrusted us with the job of making his or her ring. So even if we were to make a copper and silver mokume gane ring it would not be inexpensive due to the time and care we put into each and every one of the mokume rings we make.

The reason I will not make you a silver and copper mokume gane ring is that they self-destruct. Copper is a base metal as opposed to being a noble metal. In chemistry, noble metals are those that are resistant to corrosion and oxidation in moist air. The noble metals are gold, platinum, palladium, silver, iridium, osmium, rhodium, and ruthenium. In and of itself copper being a base metal is not the problem. By itself when worn on the skin copper will corrode and turn your skin green; this is a nuisance but many people are ok with these phenomena and wear copper bracelets or rings. The problem comes from a physical property of metals: galvanic corrosion.

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