How I make my Mokume Gane

Clean metal, high heat, high pressure and an oxygen free environment are the crucial elements that go into making a strong mokume billet. Oh yes, and years of expertise...

The metal has to be held at it's fusing temperature (just below it's melting point) to ensure a good bond. Controlling that by eye, and understanding how to manipulate the material to achieve all the different patterns takes years of practice (and the occasional heartbreak!).

It's all worth it to me, because the results cannot be achieved any other way.

Mokume Gane cannot be efficiently mass produced. It remains the sole domain of the skilled craftsperson.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

Sawing sheets of metal	Alternating sheets for colour contrast	Cleaning the metal	Taping the edges to stabilize the stack
Placing billet between steel plates	Squeezing the billet in a mini "C" clamp	Fluxing the billet	Firing the billet
Residual glow during cooling	Popping off the steel plates	Grinding the edges	A clean billet ready for patterning
Filing into the billet	Developing pattern	Doming the billet in the rolling mill	Ready for fabrication