Hello Tim,
Thanks for thinking outside the box! I have no stake in this discussion but for the fun of it let me play the devil's advocate...
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Again we see this so called hilt repair. I am not out to start a fight but lets look at this. We see this sort of thing so often. The blades are not damaged. What sort of blow would break such renouned weapons at the hilt? leaving the blade in normal condition. I have to ask again are these swords really that crap or is this some local form of construction? To me it is just getting a little silly seeing this again and again with the same repair idea. We do not see this with other weapon world wide?
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Well, this type of repair/whatever is only possible as long as you have a separate gangya - if one needs to fix a different blade/tang construction, a different technique would be called for (if any). The smaller Indonesian/Malay keris isn't subjected to the same mechanical stress during fighting and several genuine tang repair methods are traditionally employed for these blades (Alan discussed options in a thread at the Keris Warung Kopi). This leaves the Moro kris (and Malay keris sundang) as the only blade for which this method would be sensible. Doesn't prove either explanation but explains why you don't see it with other swords, I guess.
While we've seen quite a few kris posted with such a repair/feature, this is still a minority (just guessing: less than 5% of surviving pre-20th century kris). Lateral stress does happen and isn't good for any sword. A bend sword can still be used and straightened out later; only a survivor will be able to comission a tang repair though. Of course, blades with fatal damages (major cracks, etc.) won't usually end up getting repaired.
Often the repair/feature has been done with great skill - sometimes so good that people whose knowledge I respect a lot tend to think that it must be an original feature rather than a repair. However, there are sure examples of great repair jobs on blades from several cultures which attest to the skill of experienced bladesmiths of old. For example, Bill has a Jian where pitting has been meticulously repaired by tiny rectangular (mild?) steel inlays and the antique repair job was more expensive than the fine blade! Obviously, other factors contribute to owners' decisions for having a blade repaired.
Regards,
Kai