keris palembang

[sirek]

Thank you all for the informative contribution!

[drdavid]

Hi Alan
you mention

The variation that is very obvious in the ron dha sections possibly indicates that there will be considerable variation in placement and execution of the features on opposite faces of the blade. High quality workmanship demands that the features perfectly echo each other on each blade face. Perfect means exactly that:- perfect. Almost perfect is not good enough in this case

Am I right in thinking you mean if you flip the blade over the ron dha section should look exactly the same, effectively that would mean that the cuts are exactly level with no taper or tilt OR are you contrasting the right hand side with the left hand side
thanks
David

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes David, but much, much more than that.

The point of the sogokan (poyuhan) must be exactly, precisely the same distance from the blade base (ie wilah base, excludes gonjo) on each blade face, placement of each single feature must be precisely the same on each blade face.

The rondha and the greneng overall must be exactly the same on each side.

The work on a top level Surakarta blade is expected to be extremely precise, what we can see in these pics would indicate that if we had this blade in hand and examined it under magnification and measured it accurately we might find unacceptable variation. What I mean by "unacceptable" is unacceptable to permit this blade to be regarded as top level. Good, yes, but not good enough.