Thank you once again for your reply; I think we are and have been in agreement. Considering your questions, I am truly hesitant to reply. I am feeling like a Catholic parishioner having to appear before the priest and muttering: "Father, I have sinned!" Or like the time I had to do an oral in front of three Professors. The questions were all about this huge textbook on animal physiology, the contents of which I had virtually memorised. The first question took me by surprise: "Who wrote the book?"
I hereby shamefacedly admit (don't worry; I'm not too serious) that I took two pieces of teak-type wood for the gandar, marked out the outline of the blade on each of them and slowly and carefully made the required hollow with an angle grinder. Every now and then I took the blade and checked if the hollow was deep enough or had the required shape. I was quite surprised that the angle grinder idea worked so well; all it required was a firm, steady hand. I used this same technique with the gambar and it encouraged me that I could actually pull the job off satisfactorilly.
Yes, I did use wood glue; however, the Bugis keris is to be stored outside of its scabbard. (I've always had this thing about storing edged weapons outside of their scabbards.) I once made a storage case for a pristine Luger pistol, using wood glue, and found to my dismay that a light sheen of fine rust had developed within a week. Happily there was no lasting damage and after I aired the box for a few weeks, the problem never came back.
My biggest challenge lies ahead: bringing about the proper dimensions to the gambar. I'm still poring over your description: "a very gentle concave surface from the vertical groove towards the back, the surface of the wrongko in front of the groove is curved to blend into the rounded front". As David put it: "...to make the proportions and nuances as close to acceptable as possible". I must search images taken at an angle, so I can view these necessary nuances. I thank you all once again for your comments.
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