Random question

[Conner Michaux]

Is there anything I could do with a piece of copper pipe?I just found some in my house and I want something to do so any ideas?

Its just under 2 ft and . its about 3/4 inch wide

[Clifford Brewer]

You could slit it and flatten it out for spacers in handles to contrast other materials ........

[Conner Michaux]

Oooh I like that idea!

[Jeremy Blohm]

Get some nickel and make makume gane

[Jon Cook]

It'd be great for general smithing practice. Hammer control, file work, chasing, inlays. If you're going to flatten it, cut your chunk, get it red hot, and dunk it in water. Go in horizontal so you don't risk spraying yourself with hot water. It's dead soft that way. Then you can slit and flatten it with a lot less effort.

Edited August 25, 2018 by Jon Cook

[Alex Middleton]

Another vote for making spacers.  You could also use it to do copper plating if that's something that interests you.

[Ben Hoover]

2 hours ago, Jeremy Blohm said:

Get some nickel and make makume gane

How hard is that to do?

[steven smith]

Mokume is tricky and nickel is expensive, its really cool stuff though, I used to make it out of coins. Patteren welded steel is way easier because you can use flux and hit the billet with a hammer. With mokume everything has to be just right so it takes some time and money and luck.

I have used copper pipe for ferrules and spacers, be careful if you quench it as a tube, make sure its not pointing at you.

[DanM]

8 hours ago, Ben Hoover said:

How hard is that to do?

Mokume can be hard or simple depending on your experience and available equipment.It can be fused or sweat soldered with hard silver solder .You need contrasting metals and with your copper German/nickle silver would work.There are many instructions/videos on the net to get the process idea.

[Joshua States]

I've done a bunch of mokume with varying degrees of success. Using the flattened copper pipe would not be my first choice because getting the mating surfaces of the plates (copper and other material) really clean, flat and smooth is critical in mokume. Much more so than it is with PW steel where you use fluw and concentrated hammer blows to push scale and impuities out of the billet. 

Do a Google site search of this forum. There are numerous posts on the subject of mokume Gane, if that's your interest. It makes beautiful fittings on knives.

[Vern Wimmer]

Mokume Gane absolutely fascinates me. I have read all the threads I can find on it. The idea of breaking out of the "brass or nickel silver" bolsters and guards box, is very appealing plus the fact that it is on a smaller scale than pattern welding blades. I don't see a disadvantage in not having a press or power hammer when doing it. I'd really love to see someone like Joshua do an in depth WIP involving Mokume and possibly other types of alternative fitting metals with the most up to date info, experience and techniques. For instance, not being a pattern welder I am a bit "bumfuzzled" about how actually the patterns are created. Most of what I've read stops at, "once the block is solid you can cut file and twist to get the pattern you want" for a blockhead like me that sounds like a surgeon giving a one sentence explanation of a heart transplant.  

[Conner Michaux]

I havn't even forged a first knife yet so theres no way I could make Makume Gane I think I will make some spacers though.

[DanM]

https://www.gemsociety.org/article/mokume-gane-metal-techniques/

https://orchid.ganoksin.com/t/mokume-gane-pattern-development/36336/4

Experiment with clay and create your own patterns,use your imagination .......... https://www.google.com/search?q=fimo+mokume+gane+technique&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1

 

[DanM]

12 hours ago, Vern Wimmer said:

Mokume Gane absolutely fascinates me. I have read all the threads I can find on it. The idea of breaking out of the "brass or nickel silver" bolsters and guards box, is very appealing plus the fact that it is on a smaller scale than pattern welding blades. I don't see a disadvantage in not having a press or power hammer when doing it. I'd really love to see someone like Joshua do an in depth WIP involving Mokume and possibly other types of alternative fitting metals with the most up to date info, experience and techniques. For instance, not being a pattern welder I am a bit "bumfuzzled" about how actually the patterns are created. Most of what I've read stops at, "once the block is solid you can cut file and twist to get the pattern you want" for a blockhead like me that sounds like a surgeon giving a one sentence explanation of a heart transplant.  

Very quick video preview  at site,DVD available

https://www.interweave.com/store/advanced-mokume-gane-with-chris-ploof-grouped

[Joshua States]

Mokume is very much the same as PW steel  in terms of process. The only real differences between the two are base materials and working temperature. 

I did a photo wip for the ABS forum a while back, but the photos were ony website and those are long gone now.

To understand pattern development, think about manipulations and the stacking effect of different manipulations on a single billet. The last manipulation is always the grinding of the bevels. 

Maybe I will put this in a separate post.

 

Edited August 28, 2018 by Joshua States

[Jeremy Blohm]

Alec steele did a great video on mokume gane.