Now I have a Tajong!!

kai · 1st May 2010, 10:05 PM

Hello Detlef,

I hope the experts will join in for dating. I see some genuine wear and can relate to the suggested age - have been wrong before though...

Quote:

The sheat is heavy patinated and have only a very small old chip at one of the beaks.

The scabbard is the real prize here, IMHO. Very nice old piece - a bit of cleaning and some wax will probably do. I'd take it for the price any day...

From the pics, I'm not convinced that the scabbard was made for the blade though - fit seems ok but has some gaps. A gentle pineapple juice cleaning will help stopping active rust (the tip of the blade is corroded enough that this won't make it look worse); I don't think it's worth to repolish the blade since the tip area can't be restored to a traditional shape. I'd keep it as an ol' piece of history. BTW, the wire is only there to hold the hulu, isn't it? (If so, I'd remove it...)

I'm not sure wether redoing the glued hilt would be a good idea - may be less prone to additional cracking if you just cover the glue with some hard wax of a corresponding color. Regluing the beak may be more feasible though. However, since the wood doesn't correspond to the hulu, a possible strategy would be covering it with gold foil? (Suasa would be traditional but expensive.)

All in all, I believe this old piece will look nice when displayed sheathed with an added pendokok.

Regards,
Kai

BluErf · 2nd May 2010, 12:57 AM

I do not recommend touching the hilt unless you are very handy at woodworking. And even then, what I'd recommend is to just fill in the gap between the face and the nose with wood filler. Given the close proximity to the face, I thought you may have to carefully break the nose to do a clean job.

Sheath-wise, the gunk can be cleaned with a very diluted dishwashing liquid and steelwool. Be careful not to overclean it and take off too much of the old finish.

Blade is already pretty corroded. Maybe a stop-rust strategy might be better than to really clean off the rust?

Sajen · 2nd May 2010, 02:10 PM

The sheat I will clean careful with steelwool and it will get a new cover with shellac to give it back a primal glory. The blade I try to clean careful from corrosion. The hilt I clean already careful and I was able to open the nose without break and I think that I can reglue it better. Is this an "original" repair from the nose (see the pictures)?

BluErf · 2nd May 2010, 03:48 PM

Yes, this is a traditional way to repair missing noses in tajong hilts. Looks like this was done professionally a while back.

BluErf · 2nd May 2010, 03:52 PM

The hilt looks 'thirsty'. I think it would do well with some wood oil.

It's a good hilt.

Some of my tajong hilts have deep cracks through the hilt, one even has a partially repaired buah pinang (60% of the original gone). So it is quite common to see old tajong hilts with some form of damage.

Sajen · 2nd May 2010, 05:01 PM

Hello Kai Wee,

first of all thank you very much for all your knowledge help. So this repair is an old one. I will look that the reglue will be done more unvisible. The hilt look "thirsty" because I just cleaned it before I take the picture. It will be oiled after I have reglued the nose.

Do you able to estimate the age of the hilt? I have had a look to "Spirit of Wood" and think that the hilt is from the middle of the 19th c.

Regards,

Detlef

A. G. Maisey · 2nd May 2010, 11:08 PM

One of the tricks of the trade in the furniture restoration business is to moisten a small pad of cloth with gum turpentine and using car polish you polish off the filth on old french polished, shellaced or varnished surfaces.

You can get a quicker result if you use 0000 steel wool , and also if you use a clean and polish paste rather than just a polish paste, but you then run the risk of going through the finish. Its best to stay with a cloth rubber unless you are sure that you have a thick layer of old shellac or varnish.

The interior timber fittings in many of the historic homes in Australia have been brought back to an acceptable condition by the use of this technique.

2nd May 2010, 02:10 PM	#3
Sajen Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany, Dortmund Posts: 9,207	The sheat I will clean careful with steelwool and it will get a new cover with shellac to give it back a primal glory. The blade I try to clean careful from corrosion. The hilt I clean already careful and I was able to open the nose without break and I think that I can reglue it better. Is this an "original" repair from the nose (see the pictures)? Attached Images

2nd May 2010, 05:01 PM	#6
Sajen Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany, Dortmund Posts: 9,207	Hello Kai Wee, first of all thank you very much for all your knowledge help. So this repair is an old one. I will look that the reglue will be done more unvisible. The hilt look "thirsty" because I just cleaned it before I take the picture. It will be oiled after I have reglued the nose. Do you able to estimate the age of the hilt? I have had a look to "Spirit of Wood" and think that the hilt is from the middle of the 19th c. Regards, Detlef Last edited by Sajen; 2nd May 2010 at 07:44 PM.

2nd May 2010, 12:57 AM	#2
BluErf Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,180	I do not recommend touching the hilt unless you are very handy at woodworking. And even then, what I'd recommend is to just fill in the gap between the face and the nose with wood filler. Given the close proximity to the face, I thought you may have to carefully break the nose to do a clean job. Sheath-wise, the gunk can be cleaned with a very diluted dishwashing liquid and steelwool. Be careful not to overclean it and take off too much of the old finish. Blade is already pretty corroded. Maybe a stop-rust strategy might be better than to really clean off the rust?

2nd May 2010, 03:48 PM	#4
BluErf Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,180	Yes, this is a traditional way to repair missing noses in tajong hilts. Looks like this was done professionally a while back.

2nd May 2010, 03:52 PM	#5
BluErf Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,180	The hilt looks 'thirsty'. I think it would do well with some wood oil. It's a good hilt. Some of my tajong hilts have deep cracks through the hilt, one even has a partially repaired buah pinang (60% of the original gone). So it is quite common to see old tajong hilts with some form of damage.

2nd May 2010, 11:08 PM	#7
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,015	One of the tricks of the trade in the furniture restoration business is to moisten a small pad of cloth with gum turpentine and using car polish you polish off the filth on old french polished, shellaced or varnished surfaces. You can get a quicker result if you use 0000 steel wool , and also if you use a clean and polish paste rather than just a polish paste, but you then run the risk of going through the finish. Its best to stay with a cloth rubber unless you are sure that you have a thick layer of old shellac or varnish. The interior timber fittings in many of the historic homes in Australia have been brought back to an acceptable condition by the use of this technique.