[QUOTE=A. G. Maisey]Why did the springs become brittle?
QUOTE]
Good question, Alan
I am not in a position to answer. I only report what is indicated in the book I mentioned.
In my very humble opinion, the heat treatment ("temper") of a keris is far from the procedure needed to harden a spring, both for what the heat needed and for the partial section of the blade which is interested. In fact a keris blade can be easily bent, and this should not happen easily in case the steel iron core is tempered. It is true that also Japanese katanas can be bent, and this could be due to the fact that different types of steel are layered to form the blade, and different percentages of carbon should be differently treated (different temperature of the heating and of the water), and the keris is made in a similar way as the katanas.
Always in my very humble opinion the heat treatment of a keris is intended more to eliminate tensions in the metal due to the hammering than to harden the blade.
I repeat that I know nothing about these matters and should be very grateful if some more prepared friend would contribute and give a competent opinion.
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