Mokume - Ball Bearings

[lamontjb]

I'm going to try to make some mokume using ball bearings. Orginally I added 440 steal ball bearings to a recent order but I am not sure how well stainless steel attaches to other metals. Would chrome ball bearings work better? I am also thinking of stopping by the Gander and Mountain store on the way home from work to buy some shotgun shot (lead free). Would this be a good alternative?

Also, would you recommend placing the ball bearings in a self made container (maybe out of 1080 sheet), then fill in copper sheets etc? Should I fill the container with some sort of steel grain to fill in any gaps that the ball bearing might create or will the heat and force do the trick? I am using ~ a 15 ton press...

Thanks for any insight.

-John

 

[Jeff Pelz]

John,

I am by far no expert. But a book on Mokume, maybe in order. If my memory is correct you want to use metals that have similar or close to similar melting points for welding your project and not burning out the material with a lower temperature melting point.
Copper has a melting point at around 1080 degrees.
440 steel has a melting point is at around 2700 degrees.
Forging temperature maybe less but still a large difference, between these specific metals.
You might want to look into Damascus forging or using powdered steel. But it’s all about contrast and not burning out the lower temp metal.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Jeff, you are mixing F and C in those numbers. Copper melts at 1080 C, which is about 2000 F, iron melts et 2700F, which is about 1500C.

Mokume is a mixture of non-ferrous metals and is made different than the procedure suggested. Many makers are making melts with all sorts of things in them, and calling it mokume, but it is not the same. The word "mokume" means " wood grained metal" , and refers to the layers and patterns caused by laminating the metals and manipulating the layers.

Stacy