Cheap flux for mokume?

B

bjalongi

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Oct 23, 2006
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I've been scoring loads of brass and copper kitchen ware and decorative items at the local thrift shop for pennies on the dollar, which I plan to use for making mokume. Yesterday, I got four cast brass naval plaques about 3/8 thick for $.50 each - so I have enough guard material to last me a long time! Thrift shops are a great place for budget knife makers to look for brass, copper, and bronze.

About the flux:

What is the best and easiest to get flux for mokume? I was thinking that soldering flux may actually work, since it works with copper. Or, perhaps powdered flux for brazing. Is there anything I can get at Homedepot or the local Ace Hardware that will be adequate?

Is Anhydrous borax the wrong compound to use? I have borax from the grocery store that I dry in the oven, which sort of works with cable damascus, but not all that well.

Thanks,
BJ
 
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I took a class on Mokume a few weeks ago up in NC and we were using 20 Muleteam Borax from the grocery store. It was put in a jar with enough water to make a paste and we just painted it on. It worked fine for us in the class.
Here's a link
 
Excellent, I have about twelve boxes of it! I also use it to cure salmon eggs, so I always have a fresh box open.

Thanks a lot. That's very helpful.

Did you paint it on each layer, or did you paint it on the top of the stacks, so it could flow down into the gaps?
 
bjalongi said:
Did you paint it on each layer, or did you paint it on the top of the stacks, so it could flow down into the gaps?
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We sanded each layer to remove any dirt, oxidation, fingerprints, etc and clamped them together tightly. Then painted the edges only with the flux. Anything between the layers will cause the lamination to fail.
 
When you put it in the forge, was the stack positioned with the egdes up, so it could flow down through the layers? The few how to webpages I've seen show the stack parallel to the forge floor.
 
Edges should be kept parallel to the floor.

Also, to reiterate what clw3 said:

clw3 said:
We sanded each layer to remove any dirt, oxidation, fingerprints, etc and clamped them together tightly. Then painted the edges only with the flux. Anything between the layers will cause the lamination to fail.
Click to expand...

That is extremely important if you want the welds to stick. I would recommend latex gloves when cleaning and handle only the edges.

(At least that is how I've always done it FWIW)
 
I've seen stacks of quarters weld without flux or vice-plates, but have never been succesful doing it without the vice-plates with sheet stock. I've never used flux. For the stack of quarters, we used a press after they were brought up to heat.

The quarters seem to weld very easily because the surface material being welded is the same. At least that was our theory.

Arthur, can you give is some info on how you do it?
 
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