Ques for you Hammerheads and Damas"cuses"

[Bodhe]

I was thinking of making a custom guard for a fencing foil. I'd like to use pattern welded material. Since this isn't a knife, I can used things other than blade steels. I know copper, brass, nickle silver, mild steels could be used. My ques to you guys is: Can you think of any other materials that could be pattern welded other than what I've listed. And of course any other ideas you'd like to share on this project.

thanks

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

You can pattern weld almost any metal with enough tweaking of the conditions.In non steel forms it is often referred to as Mokume' Gane (wood grained metal),or just mokume.There is a good book on mokume , "Mokume Gane",by Steve Midgett. He has charts on a big variety of metals that can be layered.A mokume foil guard would be awesome (I haven't fenced in nearly 40 years),but would require a lot of touching up if used much.I would go with copper,brass,and nickel.For a layered steel guard check out Brad Vise at Alabama Precision Tool and Supply - www.Drills123@yahoo.com .He makes big sheets of simple damascus.He sells it on Ebay now,too.His prices are cheap.His billets are about 15" by 5".
Stacy

 

[Bodhe]

Thanks Blad for the reply

I ruled out mokume because most of the alloys use precious metals and there's no way I'm making a gold guard. Silver maybe, but it'd still be a little high to be taking hits on.

When you say nickel, do you mean pure nickel or nickel silver, and if nickel, what's your reason for sugg. it and got any good sellers.

I planned on doing a diffusion sweat weld by clamping the metal layers into a steel frame and heating it up with a torch. No solder, just flux. Anyone here with any exp. using this method.

Thanks
Bryan

 

[the possum]

You don't have to use precious metals to make mokume. Copper and brass, and nickel silver are popular metals to use.

The torch method should be able to work in theory, but I would think it would take a lot of skill and the proper insulating setup to get a large piece heated evenly. I'd be worried about melting part of it while others refuse to bond. We were taught to sandwich the sheets between two big plates of steel that were bolted together, so the pressure could help fuse the layers. A kiln was used to provide an even heat at the exact temp needed.
If you don't have much luck fusing the layers yourself, you might consider buying a ready-made sheet of mokume or pattern welded steel and just forming the guard. Reactive Metals Studio offers pieces that you can forge down and shape yourself.

Whatever you use, I'm sure you'd want it to be strong, but very light and thin. I'd think damascus steel would have an advantage over the mokume here. On the plus side, the pattern will really help to hide scratches & be easy to retouch, so it will stay pretty even with use.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Possum is right.You won't have much luck diffusion welding mokume with a torch.It takes controlled atmosphere and temperatures.Coper,brass,and nickel silver is the preferred knife mix.I would purchase a thin sheet of Brad's damascus,and beat out the guard.One sheet should make at least three guards.