Keris for comment

Atlantia · 26th June 2012, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tunggulametung

Gene, I vote to not stain this particular blade (some will agree, some will not)--or generally old hopefully antique pieces/with nice patina, just a light coat of oil. The other day I oil my garden bench and all of the sudden it looks totally new and I missed all that old charm

. Oil and staining if you go that route has been discussed several times on this kerispedia.

Thank you. I like it as it is too

I'm going to take some more pictures of another Keris with burl wood fittings if you are online in about 10 minuites?

A. G. Maisey · 26th June 2012, 10:44 PM

Gene, I also would probably not restain this keris. Generally the inclination of most collectors is to try to bring a keris to a premium condition of stain, but unless one has access to a first class m'ranggi, or possesses the knowledge and skill to do a first class job himself, it is probably not a good idea to restain a blade when it still has a more or less acceptable appearance.

It takes a lot of practice to be able to do a good stain job, and the option of sending a blade to Indonesia for staining is in my opinion not really an option at all, because what you get is a very inferior commercial job that often leaves the blade looking worse than it did before the job was done. Its cheap enough, certainly, but you get what you pay for.

It is possible for a really good stain job to take a skilled m'ranggi two or three days to do, and I'm talking working time, not expired time. However, to get access to the people who work at this high-class level is not easy and you probably need to be a part of a local keris community to know who to approach.

26th June 2012, 10:44 PM	#2
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,992	Gene, I also would probably not restain this keris. Generally the inclination of most collectors is to try to bring a keris to a premium condition of stain, but unless one has access to a first class m'ranggi, or possesses the knowledge and skill to do a first class job himself, it is probably not a good idea to restain a blade when it still has a more or less acceptable appearance. It takes a lot of practice to be able to do a good stain job, and the option of sending a blade to Indonesia for staining is in my opinion not really an option at all, because what you get is a very inferior commercial job that often leaves the blade looking worse than it did before the job was done. Its cheap enough, certainly, but you get what you pay for. It is possible for a really good stain job to take a skilled m'ranggi two or three days to do, and I'm talking working time, not expired time. However, to get access to the people who work at this high-class level is not easy and you probably need to be a part of a local keris community to know who to approach.