Mokume for the Masses
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So often business and the media use the term “Innovation” to describe a dramatic change in practice. In this instance, the invention is truly innovative. It will change how we produce and market patterned metal jewelry in the 21st century.
Steve Midgett and James Binnion, both recognized independently as masters of mokume gane, have teamed up to create a new metal working process that expands the capabilities of what bonded metals can do and look like.
The new process they are calling XPM (eXtrusion Patterned Metals ) looks very similar to the patterns in mokume gane but with some marked improvements. “XPM’s are created through a patent-pending hot extrusion process – think of squeezing a tube of multicolored toothpaste — that welds the layers together to create sophisticated patterned material in seamless tube and bar form for traditional mass manufacturing methods.
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They are currently working with various combinations of titanium, tantalum, zirconium, silver, gold, platinum, and stainless steel. Tantalum, which is in the same metal family as titanium is naturally a very dark blue/gray metal and provides a vivid color pattern contrast. Like the other reactive metals, tantalum is extremely inert and non-corrosive at normal temperatures.
According to James, traditional techniques require years of experience to master, and even then, there’s no way to produce enough material to meet the demand. XPM’s open up a whole new ball game; you’re going to be seeing a lot more, and a lot more interesting patterned metal products on the market in the near future.”
Retailers can take a peek at the first jewelry line that utilizes this new material at www.stratabands.com. I expect that there will be many manufacturers who will create products from XPM and that Jim and Steve will be very busy.
You can meet Jim Binnion and many other forward thinking jewelry professionals at the Santa Fe Symposium, May 18- 23rd in Albuquerque. Hope to see you there….
Dhara commented:
Alice Hyde commented:
cassio commented:
how can I learn to do it? if its possible, cassio
cassio commented:
how can I learn to do it? if its possible, cassio
James Binnion commented:
So my friend Stewart Grice of Hoover and Strong writes me a note
telling me that I don't know what I am talking about (not the first
time that that has happened). That in fact they had already started
their mokume gane experiments before the research project that we
collaborated on began. Sorry, Stewart my apologies. But with that
correction, the mokume gane style laminates are still a different
product from the XPM type of patterned material. We can do things
with XPM's that are just not possible in the traditional mokume
gane laminates like ductile combinations of reactive metals
(titanium, tantalum, niobium etc.) with precious metals. Jim Jim
Bernard Reller commented:
Thanks Jim: I'm indeed pleased to receive any thecnical info you
would care to provide.... Bernard@RellerGold.com
James Binnion commented:
Hi Bernard, I am one of the developers of the XPM material. What
Hoover & Strong is selling is traditional mokume gane. Stewart
Grice H&S's director of mill and refining learned how to make
mokume gane from Andrew Nyce and myself while working on a research
paper on an improved bonding process that he co-authored with us.
We presented that paper to the Santa Fe Symposium of Jewelry
Manufacturing and Technology in 2005. XPM's are significantly
different from traditional mokume gane. Both in the range of metals
that can be bonded and that the pattern is developed during the
bonding process rather than as a subtractive process after bonding.
Both of these aspects make XPM's a major improvement over
traditional mokume gane. Let me know if I can provide you with any
other information on these exciting new XPM materials. Regards, Jim
Binnion Vice President Extrusion Patterned Metals Corporation
www.xpmcorporation.com www.stratabands.com
RellerGold commented:
Right Steve- And with the price of gold the time is right for
alternative metals. I beleive Hoover and Strong has added some of
this material........any other sources?......or info on the working
properties? Bernard
