Cleaning and polishing my bali-keris

[David]

Hmmm....i don't think your hilt is ivory, or very old for that matter. It might be bone, but it is hard to tell with all the gunk they painted onto it to give it the appearance of age. I generally clean up ivory and bone pieces with a toothbrush and a little bit of mineral oil, but since i don't know the natural of the applied black stuff i don't know what you might need to remove it.
I suspect that your blade is also contemporary and as such it's origins are more likely Madura than Bali, though this is still a "Bali-style" keris. As for whether it should be called a patrem or not, how long is the blade? I am not sure if there is any hard and fast rules for this, but i usually count blades under 10" as possible patrems.

[njo kesasar]

Hi David,
Thanks for your quick reply.
The blade is 9 inches long and yeah perhaps I've been mislead by the gemstones on mendak and pendok to call it Bali. As for the hilt I will give it a try. Nevertheless I hope to receive more suggestions to clean the hilt.
Thanks again,
Njo

[asomotif]

I Once cleaned a hilt made of antler with a toothbrush and toothpaste !
That really got it white and clean (Not a joke).
Event that clean that I applied some antiquewax again.

The toothpaste advise was something I once read for cleaning ray-skin sabre hilts.

For the pendok I would think that some brass polish would do fine, or maybe even to fine. Do you want it to shine ?

[Sajen]

Be carefull by cleaning the pendok because it is maybe thin gilded, try it with a toothbrush and a mild soap.

[David]

Originally Posted by Sajen

Be carefull by cleaning the pendok because it is maybe thin gilded, try it with a toothbrush and a mild soap.

It doesn't look gilded to me.

[njo kesasar]

Sajen
David
Perhaps some confusion occurred, it´s all my mistake: not being a professional photographer the pendok seems to be gilded but isn´t, it is silver(like)

[David]

Originally Posted by njo kesasar

Perhaps some confusion occurred, it´s all my mistake: not being a professional photographer the pendok seems to be gilded but isn´t, it is silver(like)

If it didn't polish with with silver polish and a cloth it is not likely that it is either silver or silver plate, just some kind of white metal. Silver tends to tarnish to a blackish tone which doesn't seem to be the case with your pendok, even taking the color shift into account.

[A. G. Maisey]

I would be inclined to leave this keris exactly as it is.

I rather feel that attempting to alter the intentionally created appearance of this keris might result in some unintended surprises.

[sirek]

about your question about the length of one span of adult human footstep

I found this on the net, you might find it useful.

[guwaya]

Originally Posted by sirek

about your question about the length of one span of adult human footstep

I found this on the net, you might find it useful.

Hello Sirek,

could you give us the url. of the site where you found it?

Thanks,
guwaya

[sirek]

certainly guwaya,

but it is a French site so it is all written in French

(If you do not understand french, maybe you can translate with the google toolbar)


http://blade.japet.com/KRISS/KERIS.htm

[njo kesasar]

Originally Posted by asomotif

I Once cleaned a hilt made of antler with a toothbrush and toothpaste !
That really got it white and clean (Not a joke).
Event that clean that I applied some antiquewax again.

The toothpaste advise was something I once read for cleaning ray-skin sabre hilts.

For the pendok I would think that some brass polish would do fine, or maybe even to fine. Do you want it to shine ?

Ehmmm.....yeah like it shining but I´m afraid the grooves can´t be reached that is, I don´t know how thin the silver(plate) is and don´t want to destroy the pendok. Will try the brasspolish. THKS