Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

A. G. Maisey · 25th February 2007, 08:36 PM

I'll pass this on for what its worth, but you probably won't take my advice. Very few people do in this respect, because it does not suit their style of collecting.

I need to ensure that a very large number of keris do not deteriorate over long periods of time. I do not have the time to look at every keris I have on a monthly basis, or even on a 6 monthly basis. Once I have the blade as good as it can be got, I want it to stop that way virtually forever.

I start with a WD40 soak, then let the blade dry off, I follow this with keris oil ( sandalwood, kenanga, medicinal parrafin), but light industrial oil like sewing machine oil, or even gun oil would be as good, or better, then I wrap the blade in a plastic sleeve and replace it into the wrongko. The complete keris is placed in a singap ( cloth cover bag), and stored in a drawer or chest.

Blades treated in this way will last for years with no further attention.

If you do the same thing with your keris, but keep coming back to it regularly, say weekly, and scrubbing the rusted areas with a stiff bristle brush, you will find that over time most of the rust will disappear. That rust which is left can be removed by using a jeweller's loupe to see what you are doing, and carefully picking it away, grain by grain, with a needle. I use a saddler's needle in an awl when I need to do this.

25th February 2007, 08:36 PM	#4
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,697	I'll pass this on for what its worth, but you probably won't take my advice. Very few people do in this respect, because it does not suit their style of collecting. I need to ensure that a very large number of keris do not deteriorate over long periods of time. I do not have the time to look at every keris I have on a monthly basis, or even on a 6 monthly basis. Once I have the blade as good as it can be got, I want it to stop that way virtually forever. I start with a WD40 soak, then let the blade dry off, I follow this with keris oil ( sandalwood, kenanga, medicinal parrafin), but light industrial oil like sewing machine oil, or even gun oil would be as good, or better, then I wrap the blade in a plastic sleeve and replace it into the wrongko. The complete keris is placed in a singap ( cloth cover bag), and stored in a drawer or chest. Blades treated in this way will last for years with no further attention. If you do the same thing with your keris, but keep coming back to it regularly, say weekly, and scrubbing the rusted areas with a stiff bristle brush, you will find that over time most of the rust will disappear. That rust which is left can be removed by using a jeweller's loupe to see what you are doing, and carefully picking it away, grain by grain, with a needle. I use a saddler's needle in an awl when I need to do this.