Thanks Rick.
We don't have Elmers here. I googleized it, but I cannot see what category of glue it is. Probably our most popular all-purpose wood glue is Selleys Aquadhere, which is a PVA glue; a rather thick, white, waterproof liquid.Will adhere without clamping, but must be clamped to achieve a strong bond.Dries clear.I don't know---maybe Elmers will give a strong bond without clamping. Anyway, where you've used it, it is unlikely to be subjected to any great stress, so it might hang on satisfactorily.
Yes Jason, it is possible to get a finish that looks similar to french polish with other methods, and even with shellac, there are ways to get a finish that looks like a french polish, but that has not used as much time. I have a family background in fine art cabinet work, and have a small understanding of some of the tricks of the trade.
With Javanese finishes there are a number of different methods and materials used to achieve the desired finishes, including polishing with various leaves, burnt bone---which also used to be used in western finishes- and individual people can all have their own little tricks.I cannot be certain that urushi lacquer was never used in years past in Jawa, but I have never heard of it.It may well have been used in SE Asian crafts, but as far as Jawa goes,the only thing that I can think of that might be urushi lac is the original kemalo, which is a coloured lacquer used on some pendoks and mendaks. The original stuff has not been used since probably pre-WWII
The pine resin you mention could possibly be like our damar, which is a resin, and when you boil it up to prepare it, it does have a very strong pine smell. Damar mixed with various substances had a number of adhesive and filling uses in Jawa, however, I doubt that there are many people left in Central Jawa who understand how to use damar as it used to be used.
The problem that many people with an interest in keris face is to try to bring back a keris of no great value, from the edge of destruction, with available materials. Nobody is going to spend too much money , or perhaps time , on trying to traditionally restore a very ordinary keris with top value of maybe $100, and that they may have bought at a garage sale for $20.
To address this problem of economically viable, but traditionally appearing repairs we need to get a good understanding of what is available in our local hardware or artist supply store. Rick has used varnish to refinish his wrongko, and as he describes his finishing method, I'm sure it looks pretty good, close up. But Rick has a background in the application of finishes. He has the skills and experience to produce a professional job.
On the other hand, I do not. I can french polish, but to get a satisfactory french polish finish on a ladrang wrongko would take me much more time than I would be prepared to put into the job. So, if I wanted a decent finish, I would opt for a commercial gunstock finish, that can just be wiped on --- three or four coats over 3 or 4 days, total working time of maybe an hour.
When I was a kid I spent untold hours restoring keris. It was my ongoing hobby over a number of years. I would buy any old keris at all that I came across, and then bring it back to something that looked pretty good. At age 30 I owned more than 3000 keris, and the majority of these keris had had restoration work of some kind done on them by me.Believe me, there are a lot of ways you can get something to look as if it came straight out of SE Asia, without spending too much time, or too much money on it.
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