Originally Posted by
ps_bond
I wonder if this helps: In patterning mokume, you have a liquorice allsort assembly of metals; you generally carve into only the first few layers (or raise the sheet with punches & file it smooth). You then flatten the material so you have a set of contour lines showing where you cut metal away. If you carve too deeply, you have to roll or forge the laminate down more to flatten it. If you want a pattern all the way through, you have Swiss cheese... It's not like many of the pattern-welded steels where you have no material loss.
(Twisted mokume gives the same star pattern as you get with pattern welded steel, of course - but you still have to cut the twist lengthways)
A lot of traditional Japanese mokume gane has the lower 3rd as solid copper, which is sensible in many ways. Why put the work in when it contributes nothing to the final effect?
Even if you sand the surface down a bit, you'll just change the pattern slightly.
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