HAs anyone done makume with precious metals

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My friend who is a jeweler made herself and husband a set of precious metal mokume bands. This is only the second time i have seen mokume made from gold . She said that the guy who helped her had a special box made to apply pressure to all sides of the billet as its bineg welded/soldered? She said teh trick is heat control or else it will just go molten. Wondering if anyone has any experience with doing this?

Stuff looked amazing, much better than the copper stuff I have seen. I'm shure the price of metals would be prohibitive but still some nice stuff. She used 3 colors of gold and something else I am fiorgeting, I'll have to ask her.

I googled it but pretty much only found rings for sale.
 
Beautifull work Delbert. I guess what I am wondering most is how much equipment is entailed that a bladesmith wouldnt have and how difficult is the process for someone with no casting experience (I do have some experience with hot metal, hehe)?
 
Many people make precious metal mokume.the technique really is not difficult depending on your mindset. bracelets,earrings,pendants,etc. have been made.if fused properly most anything that can be made with sheet metal can be made with precious metal mokume. link to basic instructions.

http://www.silversmithing.com/1mokume.htm
 
The stuff does get expensive. I order a lot from Reactive Metals, and it always seems to come to a couple thousand dollars. I also recommend Delbert. He does great work. :)
 
Thanks Guys,
The temp control Is the most important part of the process. Without the abliity to control the temp within a few degrees the process is difficult. However I have made several billets in my gas forge, Its very unnerving to have a thousand dollars of gold and silver that could become a molten puddle at any second.
Thanks,
Del
 
Wow thanks for all the info. A few hundred pages of mokume rings for sale is a daunting thing to sift through.
Delbert, I can imagine unerving is an understatement. The cost I would imagine could grow quickly and a mistake would be much worse than a misground blade. I just had a look at raw metal prices and WOW! They have really took off. I should have invested in gold futures 10 years ago. Thanks again for the info and links, time to get reading.
 
You just need a good temperature controlled oven and know the metals involved. then you can load the billet into the oven and come back to a fused billet a few hours later. if you worry about it too much ,you will never accomplish anything.
 
I make it in a variety of precious metals.
The belt buckle I wear is the ABS logo. The anvil is bronze, the fire flames are copper, the coals are gold nuggets, the lettering is gold, the buckle background and fittings are silver, and the blade is a mokume of platinum and 24K gold . The knife handle is mammoth ivory,and the guard is platinum.
Stacy
 
Here is a photo.
Yes the "M" is crooked. It got severly moved when hefting an anvil.
 
Thanks, Mike. I make myself a new buckle every couple of years. I like this one and have worn it most of the time for the past three years.
You've seen my my ABS buckle, already described. Here are a few others.
My dress buckle. It is sterling based with 2oz. of Alaskan gold nuggets,1.5 carats of diamonds, two star sapphires, and a center fire agate.Large and heavy!
My day wear Scottish buckle, in sterling,with gold lettering.
My full size kilt buckle (I'll be wearing it tonight) in silver with gold lettering.It is 3.5X4.5"
Stacy
 
i have to say stacy, you have almost outdone yourself with those buckles. those are beautiful. if i wore something like that and it was worth that much i would probably be walking around with body guards or atleast a pistol hidden somewhere. the abs buckle must be worth $50k. you have done some fine work on them. how long did it take you to make each buckle.
 
Not counting the planning stages, It takes from four hours to several days to make a buckle. The ABS buckle is worth about $2000 and took a good week, The dress buckle about $5000 and took about two days, The Scottish buckles $300 and $500, both took a couple of hours (not counting casting the clan crests).
I am known by many at the shows for my hat and its band. It is a Stetson with a band of Cougar fang, Grizzly claws, Badger claws, and a couple hundred carats of North Carolina star sapphires. The band is trimmed in silver with horse hair tassels. Crocodile Dundee , eat your heart out!
Stacy
 
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