Keris to ID

[Conduit]

Thank you very much, gentlemen, for your input. I really appreciate it.
My apologies for the images, they are inconvenient to review but this is the way how forum turns them upside down when uploaded.
I will wait for a sunny day to make and add extra images of the blade and the scabbard fit for the further comments.
Hilt is affixed well I would not like to force turn it.

[David]

Originally Posted by Conduit

Thank you very much, gentlemen, for your input. I really appreciate it.
My apologies for the images, they are inconvenient to review but this is the way how forum turns them upside down when uploaded.
I will wait for a sunny day to make and add extra images of the blade and the scabbard fit for the further comments.
Hilt is affixed well I would not like to force turn it.

I am a bit confused. AFAIK the site mechanize does not reorient images when you upload. So i don't know how they would have been turned in a direction that they were not originally in.
It's a shame the hilt seems fixed. Sometime uninformed collectors will use epoxy or some other substance to fix hilts in place. That is always a troublesome thing, especially when they orient the hilt incorrectly. But usually this can be solved by applying heat gently to the base of the blade. If indeed this keris is not Madurese, as it now appears, the hilt is incorrect anyway and the overall ensemble would benefit from changing it to a nice planar hilt. So you would want to remove this hilt completely if that were the case. If you follow that course Mr. Maisey can probably advise better than i on your approach. You certainly don't want to damage this hilt as it is a valuable one and ivory can crack and break even easier than wood.
I have attached an image of a more correct style of hilt for this keris.

[A. G. Maisey]

Conduit --- even if a hilt is fixed with Super Strength Araldite, it can still be removed with heat and patience.

I'm pretty sure i have detailed at length how to go about this, and other people have commented also, so a bit of time looking at old threads might be of assistance.

I can see something in between the mendak and the bottom of the hilt, can you tell us what it is?

The cracking in the hilt might be due to expansion of the pesi caused by rust, and if that is the case pure brute strength is going to cost you that hilt, but localised heating of the sorsoran directly below the pesi and repeated gentle attempts at turning & pulling the hilt will usually cause the hilt to loosen, I like to put the blade in a bench vice for this, make sure to use newspaper around the blade to pad & protect it before clamping into a vice, alloy jaw liners too, if you have them. Put it in the vice sideways, not vertical. I use a gentle propane flame for heat. If you have a hot air blower that can give a small, localised patch of heat, that is good too.

If the pesi is rusted and expanding, it will only get worse, so it is best to get that hilt off and then do whatever repairs are necessary. This is a pretty decent keris, it is worth the effort to preserve it.

[Conduit]

Thank you, gentlemen, for your useful and informative discussion and advice.
I have managed to turn the hilt and made extra images of the blade and its fit to the scabbard. Scabbard appears to be authentic to this blade.
Your comments are most welcome.