Amateurs guide to making mokume gane

[RD_Knives]

I've tried it with quarters stacked up and TIG welded with no filler rod in my propane forge. I always seem to have a delam, so I got some sheets of copper, nickel and brass to try next time! I even cleaned the quarters with acetone before stacking them. It's hard getting the heat to the center of the billet, so I may need to turn my stack more often and get the forge at a lower temp so the outer layers don't cook too fast. It gets sweaty looking when at the right temp, but I have also squirted the copper out when hammering it before, which means some was too hot!

Stacked and Tig welded:
View attachment 246559

Discs drilled. The half circles I cut in half and re stacked to get more layers:

View attachment 246557

And when they were done:
View attachment 246558

Looking sweet!
Think indeed its best to not only clean it but give it a brush or grind aswell to really get a perfect clean and fresh surface.

When seeing this makes me wanna start and try it out even more

 

[Taz575]

Yeah, I gotta try that next time and scuff the surface. The texture on the surfaces doesn't help either versus using flat sheet.

 

[Blank Blades.]

Yeah, I gotta try that next time and scuff the surface. The texture on the surfaces doesn't help either versus using flat sheet.

Yeah having a flat surface is definitely better for it.

One thing i know someone does when making this with coins. Is he sticks them into a pipe thats the right size diameter for the coins to hold them while they are being welded.

I just did the thing with the wire when i did it. Just like the other stuff. But i imagine that could be a bit easier.

Also i think a bit extra forging during the welding heats could help flatten out the faces and get a good weld. But idk

 

[Taz575]

I put them in angle iron and clamped it when I welded it. Helped keep them aligned!