Out of curiosity, how do you guys have access to X-ray for tasks like this?

Jeff, I have an arrangement with a friend who is a veterinarian. I cannot generate the ray energy that was needed to produce Rick's picture. The unit I use is only a small one. Rick's image looks like it came from a more powerful metallurgical unit that can detect fine cracks in metal.

Rick, it would not surprise if that were the case.

I asked my chiropractor and veterinarian. Both were willing, I picked chiro out of convenience. The x-ray machine was old but I didn't ask details. I also ran XRF for metallurgical info - just asked my local metal recycling facility.

Would the same smith make blades this different? Welded tang, no separate gangya, also notice even the tang's more irregular & crude

Another-rick,

Good points. I don't know the answer and I doubt we ever will unless someone comes along to say that only one panday made these blades with naga down the middle.

Perhaps panday and those doing the carving had different grades of quality they were willing to make for their customers. I'm thinking that tools and weapons often share similar blade profiles, with weapons getting more attention to details and decoration.

Having been made a century or so ago, there may not be anyone today who knows who made them.

Regards, Ian

Here is a cropped and enlarged picture of one posted above by Gustav. It is a very nice blade and seems in good condition. In looking closely at the gangya, I can see three horizontal grooves engraved on the gandik side of the gangya: two are adjacent to the cocor and one is just above the lower lip of the lambe gaja. If a line of separation is present, it would run between the two lips of the lambe gaja. There is a wide opening and groove there, but like the other grooves on the gangya, it only runs to the unusual baca baca, None of these grooves, or any other line, is visible on the greneng side of the baca baca. Even on the most closely fitted examples, there is usually a faint separation line to be seen. Again, we need to have an X-ray to know for sure, but this looks likes another example that does not have a separate gangya.
.

The picture I posted is of a Kris which belongs to Spunjer, Spunjer has stated it has a separate gangya, and, knowing his experience with Kris, I trust him on this.

Hi Amuk,
Thank you for the link and info. It led me, at last, to the specs (below) for the kris that Gustav cited in post #21 - yours, I take it.
Mine is a little shorter (57 cm & 11 waves) but the overall construction and inlay logic seem very similar.
What especially caught my attention: both seem unusually (?) stout at 1.5 and 1.6 cm.

Curious about your opinion on the comparison and any thoughts you're willing to share.

https://vikingsword.com/vb/showpost....40&postcount=7
Name: Ki Pakpak
Cat: BadjoNaga
Type: SaptaPratala
Wave: 13
Blade: 60 cm. 1.5 cm. thick
Age: c.1900
Origin: Mindanaoe
Comment: Silver inlay along length of blade on both sides.

One more photo, in case it's helful:

Can one of the handheld XRF be used to get composition of studs, bands, inlays and other small components?

Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: Most handheld XRF units have 2 beam diameter options; Standard (8-9mm) and Small (3mm). I've heard of handheld units with Ø1mm options but never seen them in the wild...
However, even if the beam is too large to isolate a feature and adjacent metal contaminates the scan, you can still infer composition and proportions by comparing it to a clean scan of the adjacent metal. (Hope that makes sense.)
Side notes: Make sure the XRF is set to General Metals mode, not Precious Metals or something else. Scan times should be 10-20 seconds.

Cheers!