Thread: The Mokume Gane Straight

Great looking blade, only I think it looks more like snow on the Sierras rather than a river. Nice effect.

That came out great! First time I've seen a san mai done like that. Bet it took some careful forge work to avoid liquifying the copper! Hmmm, got me to thinking, wonder if brass shim stock alone would work, would have to look the melting points up, but should be fairly close to critical temp for the high carbon steel. Possibly able to forge braze the high carbon center in, would have to be careful during heating to critical to avoid the soft brass from popping loose, but might be doable. In any event, very well done, and very interesting look, that's something you don't see every day for sure, thanks for sharing.

They sure look pretty but have some reservations about galvanic corrosion in a shaving environment.

Very interesting to see the entire process.
It's a beautiful blade in a beautiful razor.
Thanks for sharing.

Pete <:-}

Originally Posted by 32t

They sure look pretty but have some reservations about galvanic corrosion in a shaving environment.

I was in the same boat there and had reservations about that at well. The smith that taught me the process of Mokume Gane (Jay Burnham-Kidwell) addressed the question for me as he trained me. In the Galvanic series the most noble metals are the most resistant (With gold and silver being near the top of that list) and the least noble being more prone to it. This becomes a greater issue the farther the metals are on the scale. That's why Mokume Gane rings made of silver and copper need to have special attention given to them, as those two metals are far apart on the scale. I choose copper, nickel, mild steel, and high carbon steel specifically because of how close that fit on the scale. Copper being the most noble, steel being the least. As Jay explained it to me, the steel will start to rust in a electrolyte before the copper or nickel begin to corrode. Keeping the blade clean and dry between uses should reduce the risk significantly. But shoot - in the long term, my warranty for my pieces is forever. So if it goes south, I'll just make a new one for my client, easy peasy.

Originally Posted by will52100

That came out great! First time I've seen a san mai done like that. Bet it took some careful forge work to avoid liquifying the copper! Hmmm, got me to thinking, wonder if brass shim stock alone would work, would have to look the melting points up, but should be fairly close to critical temp for the high carbon steel. Possibly able to forge braze the high carbon center in, would have to be careful during heating to critical to avoid the soft brass from popping loose, but might be doable. In any event, very well done, and very interesting look, that's something you don't see every day for sure, thanks for sharing.

Thank you very much!

Brass shim stock absolutely would! They key is in watching the temp of the forging very, very closely. Brass melts out at 1650+F and that is right at the lowest temp you can possibly forge weld at. You would need to go light and steady on the welding process as well. Upside, is that once you have it, that temp is below carbon heat treat temp, (Above 1425F for most high carbons) so you can harden it without worry of the brass melting. out.