A pair of Bali (?) keris, 2 of 2

[kai]

Hello S, welcome to our forum!

That's an honest keris Bali making a good addition to any beginning collection. Thanks for rescuing from it from years of neglect! On the pro side, the tip of the blade seems to have retained its original form which is not a given for an old blade! The stem of the scabbard looks like a recent replacement. Have a look at antique examples and try to work on it to give it a similar appearance.

I have gotten off pretty much all of the surface rust, but the pitting is quite troubling.

Obviously, there is no way to get the lost metal back. However, after warangan treatment, the contrast will be less noticeable.

The other thing is that I was advised to use plumbers flux to remove the last of the corrosion, but that substance made a very dark, bruise like stain on the metal, and it was not easy to get that coloration off.

I'm not sure I'd utilize this. Seems like you've done a pretty decent cleaning job though. I'd recommend to work the pitted areas with a fine needle under magnification to remove any remaining stubborn rust (including the tang). From the pics, there seem to be some scratches in the sosoran area; I'd remove them with a final round of polishing before proceeding to warangan. I'm sure the pamor will come out very nicely!

Regards,
Kai