[TheForge] Mokume-Gane

[James Binnion]

On Dec 16, 2005, at 10:22 PM, george rousis wrote:

> I guess I was asking whether you would be using a gas  forge versus  
> solid
> state
> I generally use a gas forge but know a kid who uses the solid state  
> method.
> Solid state has a much longer soak with your temperature specific  
> to your
> combinaion of metals.
> His billets seem to be weaker than mine, and give him problems during
> forging
> i was just wondering which type of diffusion bonding you would be  
> doing....
>
> but thank you for your explanation
>
> sorry i was unclear as to what i was asking
>
> george
>


All mokume is diffusion welded. Some is liquid phase diffusion  
welding and some is sold state diffusion welding. They both work well  
if done properly. Solid state allows you to do metal combinations  
that you just can't do with liquid phase but is more fragile in the  
beginning and requires more knowledge of proper heat treating and  
forging processes. Liquid phase requires a greater degree of operator  
skill ( when to pull it out of the forge) to do properly and is much  
easier to screw up (mokumelt) but can withstand more abuse when it is  
initially laminated. Melting a silver copper billet is somewhat  
painful but melting a gold one is a disaster. So I use solid state  
diffusion for greater control with expensive billets.

James Binnion
jbin at well.com