Battered Datu Kris for comment - restoration tips needed

[kai]

I have seen similar features on keris melayu - a shared (though rare) theme?

[kai]

... in original condition (asang-asang already cleaned).

[kai]

Asang-asang forged from a single piece of iron.

[Battara]

Kai, what is really nice about this puppy is that you have the silver inlay intact. A rare thing indeed. Regarding restoration, you may want to consider wrapping the hilt below the pommel in silver okir bands. I would take a little time to polish the silver inlay. If you want, you can email me on other matters of restoration, or if you want me to do any of it. Would take too long to exlain everything on this posting and not sure if this is the proper place to do it. You are right in that this is a datu piece.

[Bill]

nice old kris. the pictures make it hard to tell the real condition. even hand poishing with light abrasive compond may pull up rust deteriorated metal particles that might scratch the inlay, if your not carefull. You might try buying a soft cotton mop, put the handle in a vise, so that the strings hang freely. streak one side with a fine abasive compond and the other with final polish. Componds contain silica and should not be inhaled, wear leather gloves so you don't cut yourself. if you keep changing where you insert the sword into the mop head, you are less likely to cause scratches; the tips of the mop can be used for working certain areas. Good Luck, post some pics when you are done.

[kai]

Hi Bill,

Originally Posted by Bill

nice old kris. the pictures make it hard to tell the real condition.

Would larger but slower loading pics be preferred by most members? 800 pixels width allow easier reading/printing of the text but using higher resolution (150 dpi?) would allow zooming in if needed.

even hand poishing with light abrasive compond may pull up rust deteriorated metal particles that might scratch the inlay, if your not carefull.

Ok, I'll be extra careful. The inlay area will only need light polishing anyway - it's the tip (or maybe a third of the blade) which needs more work.

You might try buying a soft cotton mop, put the handle in a vise, so that the strings hang freely.

So the long side of the mop is parallel to the floor and its surface vertical, so that the strings hang down (on top of each other) or is the mop's surface pointing to the ground (i.e. normal working position)?

streak one side with a fine abasive compond and the other with final polish.

Please explain! (The mops I'm thinking of have only a single working surface and loading freely hanging strings with differing compounds sounds weird... What I'm missing here?)

Good Luck, post some pics when you are done.

Thanks, I'll surely post pics of the finished blade! And possibly pics of any intermediate stages if I come up with more questions...

Regards,
Kai

[Rick]

Hello Kai , here is one example of fairly simple silver braiding .

As for increasing your images to 150dpi wouldn't this adversely affect the dimensions of the images you can upload ?

[kai]

Thanks, Battara!

Originally Posted by Battara

Regarding restoration, you may want to consider wrapping the hilt below the pommel in silver okir bands.

I was also considering (partially?) wrapping with braided silver wire. What would be typical Maguindanao style for this period? Maybe members with Maguindanao kris could post pics of the hilts for comparison (I assume many fittings of old pieces in the US will be roughly from this period)? TIA!

I would take a little time to polish the silver inlay.

Sure, I'll polish the silver after everything else is done. I want to finish the iron work first since I'm a bit weary about leaving any protective stuff on the surrounding steel which may mess with the final etching...

Thanks again for your feedback!

Regards,
Kai