MOKUME GANE
Mokume Gane is a traditional Japanese metalworking technique and has been practiced for some 300 years. The name Mokume Gane when translated into English means woodgrain metal or eye of the wood metal, this refers to the patterns normally produced in Japan. The Technique requires a sandwich of different metals normally silver, copper and copper alloys to be joined together ether by diffusion bonding or by silver soldering. Once the billet has been soldered it is then forged and milled into a sheet ready to be patterned. The pattern can be produced in a variety of ways but all involve breaking through the top layer of metal into the ones below. The desired pattern having been achieved, the sheet is then milled to produce a smooth patterned sheet of metal ready to be finished.
