Sorry about the coromandel, i will use more words next time.
About measuring a keris, here's something but i am not the autor.
The Balinese usually use a piece of busung, young coconut leaf, to measure the blade and width of a kris. The busung is first cut to match the entire length of the blade, then folded in half. This determines the half-way point in the blade's length. Then the busung is folded, accordion-like, each fold the width of the blade at the middle point - a length called lumbang rai. The nature of the kris is determined from the number of these lumbang rai, essentially, the ratio of length to width:
10 rai: Kala ngamah awak ("Kala eats his body") - If this kris is used the owner will damage himself.
11 rai: Durga masiyung ("Durga is with a bird") - Ownership of this kris will mean bad things for the owner and his family, and these will persist over a long time.
12 rai: Lara muwuh ("Poverty and grief will increase") - Bad things will result from possession of this kris, especially illness.
13 rai: Bima kosa krana - The person who owns this kris will be steadily peaceful and will be lucky in his trade. Soldiers will live a long time if they use this kris.
14 rai: Darmawangsa - This kris is good for a person who gives traditional medicine to others. It is good for a person who prays a lot. The owner will be given all that he asks for by people as well as God.
15 rai: Arjuna sakti ("Arjuna is powerful") - The magical power of this kris allows the owner to see his enemies even when they make themselves invisible. The kris can be owned by Ksatriya people (warrior or ruling caste). The kris is good for sellers. One who owns this kris will have many friends. Women will love him. Everything he does will be successful. He will have constant good luck.
16 rai: Suksama angel- The owner will find unhappiness all of his life. Magical powers will harm the owner.
17 rai: Naga-samparna - This kris is good to use for help. The owner can get help easily when he asks for it. It is also good for those who give traditional medicine to others.
18 rai: Sesangkap- purna- This kris is very useful for keeping in the house. The owner will be liked by friends and family. This kris should not be taken on a trip, nor should it be taken on a boat.
19 rai: Durga katamu ("Meeting Durga") - This kris is bad for traveling. It is best to keep the kris in the house because then there will be no problems. It could be used for evil purposes too, if it is taken outside the house. It will then make enemies.
This system seems to favor kris that are generally long with respect to width - all less than 13 times as long as they are wide at the middle have quite unfavorable properties.
The second system determines the suitability of a kris for its owner by measuring its length in units of the owner's thumbwidth. One begins by placing his right thumb across the blade against the hilt, and then lays his left thumb against that, picks up his right and lays that against the left, working his way up the blade in this manner. He then counts the total number of thumb widths, if the last does not quite fit at the tip it is counted anyway. This total is then divided by seven. The remainder of the division becomes the key to the kris's characteristics. Suppose it takes 17 thumbwidths to reach the tip. Seventeen can be divided by seven twice, with a remainder of three. This "three'" is then used in the table below:
1 The kris is satriya; good to be used by one of the Ksatriya caste
2 The kris is ratna candra-masurya; good for sellers of anything
3 The kris is wanara cinara-cara; good for use by subordinates of the king
4 The kris is kala-mertyu (the spirit who takes your soul when you die); the kris is bad for Ksatriya caste people because it can cause them to harm themselves
5 The kris is Arjuna-pasupati, the kris of a soldier; if the person is robbed, others will help him.
6 The kris is kepaten twan, very bad; not good for use by anyone
7 The kris is dhar1naWallgsa; good for use by high priests
The final method is to do roughly the same thing as with the thumbs, except using the width across four fingers, close to the palm. Alternate right and left hands, starting with the right as with the thumbs.At the tip, some fingers will fit on the blade, and some will not. The fingers then serve as the remainder. Only the number of fingers remaining on the blade is significant. The characteristics of the kris are as follows:
1 This kris is sang akarya, which means "good behavior"; the owner will be followed by many people
2 This kris is kalamertiyu, meaning that it is for a person who is a good judge; the owner will have many friends and people will like him; the owner can read the character of others very easily
3 This kris is kalajana, it represents anger; if the owner uses it when asking something from someone, bad things will occur
4 This kris is nagawiraksa, meaning that it is good for people who like to fight, such as Ksatriyas; the owner will be brave in war
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