Mo Koo May GAH NAY

This videos was four years ago, so you have probably figured things out. For everyone else, use some White-Out on your pressure plates. Your mokume gane won't stick. I've heard of people using carbon from a flame. There are assorted techniques around, but two that remain constant, patients and cleanliness.

Great share

I would suggest you try a boron nitride release agent between the steel plates and your mokume gane stack. Boron nitride aerosols can be bought for about £20. Also, I wouldn't put the stack together wet. Thoroughly clean and use a solvent like acetone to accelerate drying.

just lay a piece of paper on the top and bottom. will never fuse with ur press that way. and mokume normaly is held at fusing temp for hours.

ok, use a forge vise and thicker steel plate around 20 mm to press on mokume billet, with big bolts… dont forget when you clean your mokume using sand paper or so its to remove oxyde, wich ll build up quite quickly if you dont protect your mokume sheets after cleaning…. continue good work.

Other options. Dip in kerosene before forging to remove air. Don't put plates together still wet with water! Submerge your plates in acetone and soak for a bit before rubbing clean. Weld it instead of clamping, the clamps hold it together, but you need to wack it when it is hot to forge weld it, the clamps only allow your hits to add pressure in the centre, which results in delaminations on the outer edge. Don't use a hammer to join it after taking it out of the forge, use a car jack or better still a hydralic press/flypress with flat plates. You need slow high pressure uniformally distrubuted across the entire surface. If this were a oxidising metal like Stainless steel, add a sprinkle of activated carbon, or encase in steel foil and add some argon. (or both) If you are going to use clamps, try and use a stainless steel (higher melting point) clamp set with larger bolts and threads with much thicker plates. then you may be able to (carefully) wind the bolts down to add compression to the billet instead of hammering. Also add what the americans call whiteout on the plates to stop them sticking. (or some paper, which will also reduce the O2) Heat the billet inside a bit of square bar to get more uniform heat distribution in the fire.

I just started making Mokume Gane myself and from my research online, a lot of people use meths to clean the metal which is what I've been doing which might be better than deionised water. I've also been brushing my compression plates, screws and nuts with anti-flux to try and stop the metal fusing with each other.

I know this video is quite old and you have propably moved on by now. But you said you were going to experiment further and maybe add nickel-silver to the equation. Can you maybe give some further insights on what you have learned? I am trying to make mokume myself and I'm really struggling to get it right. Thanks in advance :)

We use almost exactly the same method, I stopped hitting it with a hammer when it comes out of the forge for the first time because it deforms the Steel plates. This can cause uneven pressure or no pressure at all when you put it back in. (I’ve found pressure distributed evenly across the stack is very important for even lamination, I’ve had stacks only laminated on 1 side due to uneven pressure). I take it out let it cool for a minute and tighten all the bolts again. Then I stick it back in until welding temp, take it out, take the steel plates off, stick it back in alone then give it a few good hammer hits to really make sure everything’s good and laminated. Sand all the sides so there are no cold shuts and making sure everything’s laminated, if so it’s ready for further forging

You need to get heat into the billet more slowly and evenly.

When sanding by hand it shoud drawing an 8 number otherwise one side would be sanded more than the other

the sheet stuck to the steel because the brazed on to it

I see this all the time. What I have observed is cleanliness is important. After heating and in-between times you really should be wire brushing, cleaning firescale and impurities from your anvil ,forge and hammer. Your really kind of a messy guy you know. When you hit any metal after being in the forge ,you have to clean,t otherwise your pushing it right in there. The cleaning you did before hand an during was half-assed.