A Pedang

[blue lander]

I won this one yesterday but it won't arrive for a few days. The seller didn't know anything about it other than that he thought the fittings might be silver. I assume it's a pedang? I found a similar one in this thread (http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/002650.html) . Both of ours seem to be missing a bit from the bottom of the scabbard, or is that normal?

[RSWORD]

Nicely laminated blade. There seems to be either a forging fault or a deep cut to the blade near the spine. Looks like it has good age to it. Probably WW2 era or even slightly older. Hard to say from the pictures but am doubtful the mounts are high grade silver. Probably white metal. It is missing the chape.

[Gavin Nugent]

Both of ours seem to be missing a bit from the bottom of the scabbard, or is that normal?

I think you'll find it is missing from the top and the bottom of the scabbard.

So many varieties of this type of sword are found.

Perhaps Maurice has done a study or paper on them?

[Amuk Murugul]

Hullo everybody! :)

.....Soenda/western-Java golok-pandjang/pedang, perah(handle) tjeker-mentjek/hoeloe-makara .....missing metal cover on simeut-meuting (clip), chape & throat (see attach.)

Best,

[blue lander]

Thanks all. Are the hilts typically made from wood or horn?

[asomotif]

Thanks all. Are the hilts typically made from wood or horn?

Horn.

[blue lander]

It arrived today. The crack in the blade only goes a mm or so into the blade, so perhaps it's a forging flaw. The blade's very rusty - normally I'd use fecl to clean something this rusty but I don't want to damage the pamor. Can I use fecl or do I have to use the arsenic/lemon juice stuff?

Any idea what kind of horn the hilt is made of? It shined a flashlight through it and it's only barely translucent at the very tip of the hilt. There's also a hole drilled into the end of the hilt.

[Maurice]

Perhaps Maurice has done a study or paper on them?
I have had several of these in my hands.
The scabbardmouth and -tip indeed are missing.
sometimes they are from carbao horn, sometimes bone, and sometimes bone with smaller rings of carbao horn in between.
These pieces were attached to the scabbardprotrusions (which we can see on the images) with small horn-, bone- or wooden pegs.

Maurice

[blue lander]

I cleaned the blade up a bit and etched it a little bit. It seems that the character of the steel is different at the very edge. There's virtually no laminations and the steel is brighter. Is there a reason for this?

Also, is it correct to call this pamor?

[A. G. Maisey]

Based upon what I can see in the photographs, as well as my long experience with this type of blade, it is my opinion that this blade is laminated iron and the edge is formed from a piece of steel which has been sandwiched between the laminated iron that forms the body of the blade. Close examination will possibly reveal that the heat treat was carried out on the edge only, not by plunging the blade point first into the medium used to cool.