Richard, I attempted to access your pics, but cannot get to them. Some sort of "not a member" thing.
By what you have written it looks as if you smelted the meteoritic material.
I've worked meteoritic material a number times and have only ever done it in the forge. You just bring it together gently to begin, after about 3 or 4 welds its more or less stable, and it takes about 7 welds to get it nice and clean. Then it has been welded in with old iron. Where I've used it in a keris it has been used as the pamor layers, where I've used it in damascus it was welded with 01.
Haven't done any of this work for a few years. From memory I started to work with it about 1986 or 1988, and did the last bit about 1996 or 1997.I used Arizona meteorite, and really, its no big trick to work the stuff, as long as you stay gentle till it comes together. Get too heavy handed early, and it comes apart under the hammer like cottage cheese.
Back about 12 or 14 years ago I supplied a quantity of meteoritic material , ready to be used as pamor material to a pandai keris in Solo. He made two keris using this material. The first one was sold to ---I think---the Ambassador to Indonesia for Venezuela, I have the second one. Both these keris used a damascus core.
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