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[randomdreams]

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[randomdreams]

I haven't. I have a book on making mokume and from reading that and from my own experience, what I think I'm going to try is high-pressure diffusion bonding. I built a 12 ton press and on the anvil of the press, I have a partially completed firebrick furnace. The plan is: stack the billet, wrap it in steel foil, run a thin argon line in there, then heat the furnace until the billet is at the right heat (thermocouple beside billet) and crank down on the press and let it sit for an hour, then cool it down still under *lots* of pressure. I don't know if it'll work but if it doesn't I can do it the traditional way using the same equipment.

Have you made any mokume? Do you have any advice?

[randomdreams]

I built the press for another project, and this is more or less a side-project for it. (I built a spring stack so I can accurately apply significantly less pressure than the full 12 tons...) The book I have is a Midgett book, probably the same one you're talking about. His C-clamp is kind of a PITA since he's welded on a new top and tapped it so he has two coaxial screws that can be closed together (otherwise he'd have the billet hard against the beam of the C-clamp on the other side from the screw.) That seemed like a lot of work and since I already had the press partly together, I figured I'd just basically stick a furnace thing on the anvil, much as he stuck a furnace thing on his big C-clamp.
It might not work, in which case I'll go with the simpler system.
The idea bout the SS foil and neutral gas was from that book as well: I am not sure I need to do that. But again, since I have the stuff, why not?

[randomdreams]

For cost reasons I'm going to be working with copper/brass for right now. Once I'm sure that I actually enjoy it, I'll start adding silver and probably various gold colors, but I like to ease into things.

Please do post what you manage to make. I'm avidly interested.