My first Moro Kris stain attempt

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by kai

Is it just me or do others think as well that this might be a really nice kris from one of the Lumad groups? From my observations, the carvings at the gangya area appear atypical for Moro designs. Especially the weird file work around the "elephant/eagle mouth" as well as the rather short & stubby other side of the gangya seem to be more consistent with other Lumad examples.

Could someone of the more knowledgeable folks comment on the hilt carvings, please? Any hints here?

BTW, Bill, can you ascertain that the gangya is separate?

Regards,
Kai

Kia,

I would really like to know more about this piece. The ganga IS separate. I also have a scabbard that looks like the handle carving. Unfortunately the scabbard is brokena nd has pieces missing.

I did re-stain it tonight, but forgot about heating the blade first, so the stain did not work very well. Cleaned and neutralized it (baking sods?), rinsed and dried it carefully. Will work on it some more tomorrow night.

Bill