Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Different iron and steels used in the forging of keris??

lemmythesmith · 20th May 2007, 02:16 PM

Hello everyone, this is my first posting so please excuse my ignorance on the subject! I am a keen amateur bladesmith and have been interested in Keris for quite some time. Recently I purchased the book "keris daya magic-manfaat-tuah-misteri" I noticed all the different kinds of iron and steel used in the forging of keris. Some I could translate as "alloy steel" and of course I'm aware of the use of meteoric iron and nickelous iron from Sulawesi, does anyone know of other kinds of metal utilised? I am making some pamor at the moment using Campo Del Cielo and Sikhote Alin meteor mixed with old saw blades and mild steel strip which gives a good contrast in the etch, is plain wrought iron sometimes used? I have some old iron which I think would be nice to include in the pamor mix-is this done? Can a keris produced outside of Malaysia be considered a "real" keris? My field of forging expertise lies with Japanese swords and to be a "true" sword it must be made from "tamahagane" or it is considered wrong. Would I have to use certain metals to produce real keris or can any iron or steel be used? Hope someone can help!! Regards, Graham.

20th May 2007, 02:16 PM	#1
lemmythesmith Member Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 93	Different iron and steels used in the forging of keris?? Hello everyone, this is my first posting so please excuse my ignorance on the subject! I am a keen amateur bladesmith and have been interested in Keris for quite some time. Recently I purchased the book "keris daya magic-manfaat-tuah-misteri" I noticed all the different kinds of iron and steel used in the forging of keris. Some I could translate as "alloy steel" and of course I'm aware of the use of meteoric iron and nickelous iron from Sulawesi, does anyone know of other kinds of metal utilised? I am making some pamor at the moment using Campo Del Cielo and Sikhote Alin meteor mixed with old saw blades and mild steel strip which gives a good contrast in the etch, is plain wrought iron sometimes used? I have some old iron which I think would be nice to include in the pamor mix-is this done? Can a keris produced outside of Malaysia be considered a "real" keris? My field of forging expertise lies with Japanese swords and to be a "true" sword it must be made from "tamahagane" or it is considered wrong. Would I have to use certain metals to produce real keris or can any iron or steel be used? Hope someone can help!! Regards, Graham.