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Mokume Gane

Hoover & Strong is pleased to announce the introduction of Mokume Gane, the Japanese art of patterning metal laminates. This style of metal manufacturing dates from feudal Japan and the literal translation is "Wood Grain Metal" or "Wood Eye Metal". The style and look of patterns that can be created is only limited by your imagination.

The process of producing Mokume Gane feedstock is time consuming and not without problems. Sheets of your chosen metals (with differing colors for maximum contrast) are diffusion bonded in a furnace to make a "billet". The sheets must be scrupulously clean and free from oxides, tarnish and grease for this process to work. Bonding must take place in an inert or reducing atmosphere for it to be successful. Once bonded, the billet is then carefully forged and rolled to sizes suitable for either direct patterning or for square wire sections. For any number of reasons there is always potential for the sheets in the billet to "de-laminate" or split apart. Unfortunately, in most cases when this happens you have to scrap part or maybe your entire billet. You can easily become frustrated, and have a great deal of value invested in billet that you can no longer use.

This is why the production of mokume gane jewelry has been the preserve to those brave and committed enough to adopt this lengthy process and accept the potential failures inherent to it. Suppliers of ready-bonded billet are few, so Hoover & Strong decided to make it easy for you. We now offer the following combinations, ready for you to pattern and process into beautiful jewelry designs. Traditional alloys bonded to sterling silver. We offer billets of sterling/copper and sterling/shakudo. As well as making beautiful jewelry in their own right, these provide an inexpensive alternative to the karat gold laminates and are an excellent way to hone your patterning skills.

Download the printable Mokume Gane brochure for more information.

Karat gold alloys and sterling silver

For two color combinations, we offer billets of 18K Royal/Sterling, 14K Red/Sterling and 14K Palladium White/Sterling Silver.

For three-color combinations, we offer billets of 18K Royal/14K Palladium White/Sterling, 14K Red/14K Palladium White/Sterling, 18K Royal/14K Red/Sterling, and 18K Royal/14K Palladium White/14K Red.

All three-color billets have a layer of sterling silver between each alternating color layer.

For example:
Sterling/18K Royal/Sterling/14K Palladium White/Sterling/18K Royal/Sterling

All of the above combinations are available in the forms shown in the chart to the right. All orders must be in inch multiples.

 

The Hoover & Strong Custom Billet Firing Service

In the fall of 2006, Hoover & Strong will offer a custom firing service. If you require alloy combinations not outlined above, your own signature stacking order or layer thicknesses, we can help. Our experts can advise on what metal combinations bond well and help you design a custom laminate of your choice, unique to you and your jewelry line.

All custom orders must purchase a complete billet. We have a number of billet sizes to choose from, so call or visit our website for pricing and choose the size that best suits your production requirements.

Patterned Sheet

If you want to avoid the whole patterning process and just use ready patterned sheet, we have several different styles to choose from.

Here are just a few examples:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mokume Gane Specialty Alloys

For jewelers who wish to bond their own billets, Hoover & Strong supplies traditional mokume gane alloys like the examples shown in the chart at the left.

Click here to view actual pricing

Bonding platinum alloys to karat gold has proved difficult for most mokume artists. Research undertaken with Andrew Nyce of Andrew Nyce Designs and Jim Binnion of James Binnion Metal Arts found that if you want to make a billet of platinum and gold, the easiest alloys to bond are 18K Royal Yellow and 900 platinum-palladium.