Yes, I'm An Idiot. Mokume, What Is It Made Out Of ???

[Megalobyte]

What metal(s) is Mokume made of? I know its basically damascus that has a sort of golden/brassy/coppery color to it, but im not sure of its composition. Any help/info is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[APM]

Your not a idiot Megalobyte and with Google you might come off like a genius!

http://www.google.com/

Put Mokume in a google search and you get.

http://www.mokume-gane.com/Pages/What_is_Mokume.html

Cheers!
James

 

[Keith Montgomery]

Mokume-gane, which means "woodgrained metal" is a combination of many layers (I've seen as few as 7 or 8 and as many 30. I am sure that more layers than 30 are used to make some mokume) of non-ferrous metals such as brass, copper, silver and gold. These layers are fused together using a combination of heat and pressure. There is an almost infinite number of beautiful patterns of Mokume-gane.

This stuff can be used to fancy up a knife, but in my opinion can be overdone. I have seen many knives where I thought it looked great and many others where I thought it did not belong at all.

Most of the Mokume-gane used to make knives is made from the less expensive non-ferrous metals, such as copper and brass. Multi-colored gold Mokume-gane is used to make some of the most beautiful jewelry that I have seen and could be used for the handle of a very expensive custom knife.

 

[Ebbtide]

The proper handle material, for use with Mokume, is jigged bone.

 

[Joss]

I've seen 3 types of metals used: copper alloys (Ni Silver, Brass, Bronze, Copper,...), Silver alloys (Sterling, Shibuichi), gold family alloys (Gold, Platinum, Shakudo.)

I seem to recall that it's often hard to mix those (i.e., a copper alloy with gold, say), as the temperatures they require to bond / become "wet" are different and sometimes incompatible. This being said, Si / Cu mix is a pretty common one, so maybe this only applies to gold family?

For anyone interested, I *strongly* recommend Steve Midgett's book "Mokume Gane, a comprehensive study"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0965165078

Great book, with a lot of technical / practical advices, clear drawings, and beautiful pictures!

JD

 

[J.Loose]

As has been said before, Mokume can be made from just about any non-ferrous metal... from brass and bronze to 24k gold and fine silver.

For those who have been turned off to Mokume take a look right now:

http://www.mokume.com/artgallery3.html

In my opinion the knife community with a few exceptions, hasn't even come close to exploring the potentials of this material. I think this is the unfortunate effect of poor quality material being overused and general misconceptions about what Mokume is. Good quality Mokume will not 'rust,' or unintentionally patinate, as one of the common objections goes... it was *invented* as sword furniture by the Japanese; who tend to do things in a very considered manner!