All education costs Anthony. It mostly costs money, and that is not so bad, because money can always be replaced, when the education costs honour or reputation, that is much worse than just costing a bit of money.
Its not only "sharp eyes" that help me Anthony, it is the fact that I have been given the benefit of the best education possible in keris:- Empu Suparman, Empu Pauzan Pusposukadgo, and more than 40 years of buying keris in Indonesia. This sort of experience takes a long time, and good teachers to acquire.
It is correct and normal to apply kinatah before doing the warangan.
Personally I would hesitate to refer to any current Madurese keris maker as an "empu". Pande keris perhaps, if he was doing the forge work as well as the cold work, but not empu. True empus are very few and far between.
In any case, even though you are not particularly happy with the result, you have managed to obtain a truly rare and beautiful pamor. Pure art. If you had not ordered it, you might have waited a lifetime to even see this pamor.
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