Hello Amuk Murugul, Rick, Alan
Thank you all for your inputs.
In an older thread (May 2008) I read that
" ... the iron used is called `besi malela`that originates from beach sand"
and
" ... besi malela is the type of iron that had a lot of impurities ... and considered as less preferable choice in making keris".
Very interesting indeed!
Furthermore, I found a very interesting post by Empu Kumis (thread "What constitutes a `good` keris?", June 2001), describing "the melting of iron from ironsand".
" ... These black sands are used in history by dayaks for traditional ironmaking also. The name of this sand is in Bali bias malalo and in Java pasir malelo like the besi malelo in the older literature of Java ... " " ... for using as material for kerisses its a real good iron." (Quote Empu Kumis)
Fascinating: Keris iron made from beach sand!
Heinz
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