Traditional cleaning
While in Jolo, Sulu I was shown an old traditional way to clean the blades.
We hollowed out a large section of bamboo (leaving the bottom section) and filled it with what I now know to be coconut vinegar - this was procured from some family up in the hills as it's not sold in the markets. This set-up worked great and dissolved both the dirt and rust along with bringing out the lamination. This took anywhere from overnight to three days depending on the condition of the blade and the vinegar lost its efficacy after about three blades - had to dump and refill with fresh vinegar.
This left the blades with a white residue which disappeared after a quick wipe down with gun oil. It's been a year since I treated my blades there and they still look great.
Tried the same method on an old Kora when I got home using regular vinegar and a section of PVC pipe - it worked great.
The biggest problem we had was treating the gangya as it didn't fit into bamboo section, we solved this with some duct tape and the cut off top section of a plastic jug attached to the top of the bamboo.
The same old gentleman that showed us this said that they also used to use star fruit but he didn't know the right process.
Dan
|