Tutorial on mokume making (1010 - 1070 and copper)

ArielSalaverria

ArielSalaverria

Joined
Mar 26, 2004
Messages
1,617
Hey folks,

This is a more complete tutorial on how to make mokume, I hope you enjoy!

Any questions, please feel free to make them and I'll answer them to the best of my knowledge.


Cutting copper layers (0.25mm thick) into 32 x 200mm rectangles.

tutorialmokume1_big.jpg



All layers of metal (copper, 1010 and 1070) and the cannister.

tutorialmokume2_big.jpg



Placing the metal strips into a square section cannister of 1.5mm thickness. The first and last strips are 0.5mm thickness stainless 304 to prevent welding against the cannister inner walls.

tutorialmokume3_big.jpg



Closing the cannister.

tutorialmokume4_big.jpg



Placing it on the oven at 1200C for 15 minutes.

tutorialmokume5_big.jpg



Pressing it.

tutorialmokume6_big.jpg


tutorialmokume7_big.jpg



Cannister after being pressed.


tutorialmokume8_big.jpg



Still hot. With some pliers I break the cannister. (15-20 minutes after being pressed. I just drop it on the workshop floor for that time, so it's still hot)

tutorialmokume9_big.jpg
 
Stainless strip.

tutorialmokume10_big.jpg



After taking the welded piece off the cannister (half ingot) I make some cuts to get it to draw some more.

tutorialmokume11_big.jpg



After making the cuts, I place it on the oven at 200C and leave it there til it reachs 850C (about 10 minutes total time) and then I press the ingot again til it reachs about 8mm thickness, so after grinding it has 6mm.

tutorialmokume12_big.jpg



After grinding it I etched it and this is how it ended up looking.

tutorialmokume13_big.jpg



Other similar work.

tutorialmokume14_big.jpg



Thanks for looking!

Ariel
 
Thanks for posting the tutorial Ariel! Have you tried it with just a hammer yet? I would like to give it a shot except I do not have a press. Since copper is so expensive I would not want to destroy it.
 
I WANT SOME !!
Is this actually a steel and copper mokume? How can I get some from you?
I'm a lazy old coot, and prefer to let others do all the hard work making damascus and mokume. Then I just put it together in a knife shape (after cutting all sorts of holes in it!!).
Will you be at any knife shows this summer?
Donald Bell
www.Bellknives.com
 
Thank you :)

You can make it without a press, just by hammering, I've made it in the past and I know some knifemakers do it this time, it's just a lot of hard work and very time consuming. But it can be done :)

Donald,

Yep, that's exactly what it is :)

I have a mokume order to fulfill this week or next one, and then I will work full time on making more knives for the Buenos aires Knife show in August. After the show I will continue to make this stuff available for sale. Drop me a line if you're interested and I'll email you when I start making it again.

Here you can see some finished pieces with this stuff:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=396943

Also on the Gallery of my website.


Since I'm in Argentina, traveling to a knife show in the US is very expensive for me nowadays, but hopefully in the future I'll be able to attend one.

Ariel
 
ArielSalaverria said:
Since I'm in Argentina, traveling to a knife show in the US is very expensive for me nowadays, but hopefully in the future I'll be able to attend one.

Ariel
Click to expand...
OT but I have to say
I met a gal over-seas back in the early 70's
she was from Argentina, her name, Gabriel, I got to know her very well
and I won't say in what way :o, but I sure wished I could have brought her home to the states with me..:)
if she was thee example of the women in Argentina my hats off to you Ariel
:thumbup: :)
 
Ariel, thank you very much. It's always nice to see how you do your work. I can't believe you're wearing a sweater! You must be up in the mountians. I think it was around 98 in South Central Texas today, which is cool compared to what's coming.
Keep up the great work, and we all really love your tutorials.
 
Ariel, I has some scrap copper lying around and got some 1006 shim stock to experiment with like you explained in your first tutorial. I'm using a charcoal fire, 20 mule team borax(the stuff I know some other makers use for welding) and gave a go at it. Part of my U melted away, and not all the ends of the layers fused, I'm a little worried that too much copper may have dripped out but well see. Can this be done in charcoal? or am I wasting my time? Parts of the billet did seem to come together and sounded like a big piece of material. Maybe it fused and I just need lots more practice to get the whole thing nice?

Would you recommend the canister method over the U billet? And am I correct in guessing that the canister is square tubing? Do you put borax in between your layers inside the canister, or just clean them relying on the canister to protect them from oxidation? I appreciate any help you can give, you seem to be the mokume master on here.

Thanks
Trevor
 
Trevor,

If you're using charcoal, go with the canister, as you'll get all kinds of residue from that kind of fire into the mix of metals.

If you're having a hard time getting them to fuse with the U and a hammer, try this:

1. Put the metal strips in a plastic recipient with a 50/50 mix of water and clorhidric acid for about 20 minutes. That gets rid of the rust and oil/grease.

2. Neutralize that acid in hot water with 20% of baking soda.

3. Make a muddy mix of borax and water in a recipient and put the alternated strips there and make sure the borax solution gets all over the place between all metal strips.

4. Get into canister (it is indeed square tubing - I hammer it square from round ones though :D), heat, hammer, repeat :)


Hope this helps!

Ariel
 
Thanks, as for the heat hammer repeat, how do you ultimately know when its done? When it all feels solid?
 
One more question Ariel, what do you usually charge for a full billet like the one shown on this page?
 
Ariel,
Have you ever twisted a batch of this stuff?
I'm working on some myself and plan on twisting it.
Thanks,
Del
 
I just received my Nessmuk from Ariel and COULD NOT BE HAPPIER.
I was doing a search on the damascus steel used in it and found this thread.
Here's my finished piece by ARIEL
Tom

IMGP1865.jpg


T
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top