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Old 30th September 2018, 01:40 AM   #3
A. G. Maisey
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Join Date: May 2006
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Roland, there are several timbers that can look like the example of which you have posted images.

The effect of grain being influenced by shifting light is called "chatoyancy", ie, like a cat's eye, in English, and "nginden" in Javanese.

Trembalu is the wood that would first come to mind, but trembalu is normally a lot more subtle than this, a wood that has seen a lot of recent use is akasia, and more recent again is "trembalu jawa", which is a trade name, I do not know the correct name for it.

The actual colour you see in the wrongko you have is probably the result of rubbing oil and a natural stain made from red berries into the wood before it was finished with shellac. Trembalu is naturally lighter than your material seems to be, as is trembalu jawa, akasia is often very similar in grain, but more towards yellow.

I cannot suggest a source. Virtually all the woods that were traditionally used for keris dress are almost impossible to obtain these days, new types of wood appear in the market constantly, but to get any of the old traditional woods it is normally a matter of placing an order and waiting. During the last 20-25 years I have waited anything up to 5 years to get a piece of burl teak suitable for a ladrangan wrongko.
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