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I Forge Iron

350 Layer Pattern Welded Belt Buckle


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I finally got to return to the forge after breaking my right hand 3 months ago (4 days before a major demo). this is the first lingering project that I have gotten to finish since recovering from hand surgery. It is a 350ish layer (15n20 and 1080) Pattern welded belt buckle into which I forged an anvil shape. I then forged a burst pattern Mokume anvil to inset into the indentation in the buckle. This buckle will be auctioned off at S.W.A.B.A's June meeting as a fund raiser. Demonstrators/Presenters at this meeting will include Robb Gunter, Chris Thompson, Frank Turley, Tom Joyce, and 'Lil old Me. Here is a link for more info. http://www.swaba-abana-chapter.org/CAMPOUT%20FINAL%20CORRECTED%20PDF.pdf It sure is nice to be back in the game!

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That is just plain beautiful Jose! I know I sure wish I lived close enough to place a bid on it. Heck, I don't even wear a belt.

I'd say the evidence shows you're recovering right well. Be careful next time will ya? We're not as young as we used to be and can't just shake injuries off like we used to. Oh WAIT a second, you didn't get too close to one of those evil Great White . . . birches did you?! :o

Frosty the Lucky.

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Thanks all! Mr. Turley, I am definitly looking forward to it! Ironstein, The edge details were done with a die grinder and then finished with a file, and the Mokume is 32 layers of nickel and copper forged to 3/32 inch thick. This buckle is for a benefit raffle for one of our members; Each demonstrator at our meeting will donate a forged and signed specialty item created just for this unique raffle. All proceeds will go directly to her to help with medical expenses accrued from her battle with cancer.

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I started out with 6 pieces of 1/8 inch 1080 tool steel and 6 pieces of .95 inch thich 15n20 steel all 1 1/4 inch wide by 5 inches long. I then stacked them in order (1080/15n20/1080/15n20 and so on). Following that I welded the stack to a piece of rebar so that I would not have to use tongs to controll it, then heated it in a gas forge to dull red color at which time I fluxed it with anhydrous borax and returned it to the forge. After the billit had had sufficient time to reach welding heat (2300+ degrees) I removed it from the forge and ran it through the power hammer gently. Following the first welding cycle I re-fluxed and re heated the billit to welding temp at which time I agressively forged the bar down to 1/4 inch thick while letting it grow as wide as it wanted to (ended up being 1 3/4 inch wide or so). So now I had a 12 layer pattern welded billet, but I needed more layers in order to get the fine pattern I was looking for, so I cut the bar into 5 equal chunks, re-stacked them and repeated the welding process giving me a 1/4 inch thich 2 1/4 inch wide 60 layer bar....Still not enough. So yet again I cut it into 6 equal pieces re-stacked and re-welded giving me a 5/16 inch thick 2 1/2 inch wide 360 layer slug of metal long enough for 2 buckles. Now I hade the layer count I wanted but I needed the anvil shape indentation in the center, so I cut a tiny anvil out of a piece of 3/4 inch steel plate and welded it to a handle. I then re heated the 360 layer bar to welding heat and drove the anvil shaped nugget of steel down into it leaving the metal about 1/16 inch thick under the indentation. After that I profiled the buckle on the belt grinder I forged a curve into it by driving it into a 2x4 from the back, and threw it in a brass tumbler (normally used to pollish empty casings for reloading)In order to clean off the fire scale. Following that I Etched the buckle in ferric chloride 3 times for 15 minues each until I could feel the raised grain of the metal. I then forged a sheet of mokume using 16 layers of nickel and 16 layers of copper and using the same anvil shaped tool gave it a whack with the power hammer so that I had a print of the anvil shape to follow while cutting the mokume. All that was left to do then was cut out the mokume, dish it to match the buckle, epoxy it in the indentation, and weld the hardware to the back.


Ill try to get pictures of the tooling and some in process pics tonight and post them, but for now I hope that this both answered your questions and made a few more at the same time...

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Well!Thats quite a process.I wikied mokume so I understand something about it but have some questions.The copper and nickle ,were they jewelry materials? How thick? How did you cut the anvil shapes for the indent anvil and the mokume?yeah some pics of process would be great.Many thanks.

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Well!Thats quite a process.I wikied mokume so I understand something about it but have some questions.The copper and nickle ,were they jewelry materials? How thick? How did you cut the anvil shapes for the indent anvil and the mokume?yeah some pics of process would be great.Many thanks.


The copper was salvaged from old copper pipe (about .040) and I used .030 nickel 200 sheet for the remainder. The anvil shaped tool that I used to make the indent was cut out of a chunk of 3/4 inch mild steel plate by drilling two holes (one under the horn and one under the heel) and then cutting the rest of the material away with a band saw. I then welded it to a handle and heated it to 1600 degrees and dunked it in superquench to harden it up enough to withstand the abuse. The mokume anvil was cut out with a pneumatic cutoff tool (the type that use 3" abrasive wheels) and the finish profiling and fitting was done with an electric die grinder fitted with a burr bit. I am attaching a photo of the anvil tool next to the buckle and a shot of the buckle next to an unwelded bilit that is set up exactly the same as the one the buckle was made from. I'll try to get more in process pics soon.

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