Hybrid kris for comment

[Battara]

There is another possibility that occurs to me years later - could what I have be hippo ivory, because the grain structure is not elephant.

[JBG163]

Hi XasteriX ( )
In my opinion, some of the visible flaws would indicate a forge folded structure.
Did you do the etch on it ? (it seems to me from the quench line quite discernable on your above picture that it was etched).
I think it could be worth to open a window on some part and to etch it again. Could show us more.

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by JBG163

Hi Jose,
In my opinion, some of the visible flaws would indicate a forge folded structure.
Did you do the etch on it ? (it seems to me from the quench line quite discernable on your above picture that it was etched).
I think it could be worth to open a window on some part and to etch it again. Could show us more.

Hallo just to clarify: that's my kris- Jose's kris is different I'll etch it again as you suggested though. The previous etch on it was a side-effect of cleaning it via white vinegar (it originally came to me partly rusted).

[Battara]

In the tip of Xasterix's kris blade it does look like laminaton. Sometimes an etch will not reveal this because the steels are too close in carbon content, but etching will usually bring most of them out.

Also it looks like the groves once had silver inlay.

[David]

Originally Posted by Battara

There is another possibility that occurs to me years later - could what I have be hippo ivory, because the grain structure is not elephant.

Can you show us some close-ups of the pommel. It could be hippo or possibly whale tooth. I was just remarking about your original statement as seacow because i don't believe dugong tusks have enough girth to be able to carve such a pommel from it. It certainly looks like some kind of ivory though. Close-ups might help answer your question.

[xasterix]

Finally got to etch and take better close-ups of my kris blade:

[Battara]

As requested a while back, here are closeups of the blade on my kris:

[JBG163]

XasteriX
There is flaws on yours that would indicate a laminated structure.

Battara
Honestly, can't tell for yours !

[Rick]

This is the same result that came up when you etched one of my krises, Jose.
Mystifying....

[JBG163]

They probably are forge folded. Maybe the steel was well refined and almost homogeneous. Or, there is no carbon difference in the initial steel so, it is hard to discriminate the layer. In those cases, best is to search for flaws or bad welding.

[Battara]

Originally Posted by JBG163

They probably are forge folded. Maybe the steel was well refined and almost homogeneous. Or, there is no carbon difference in the initial steel so, it is hard to discriminate the layer. In those cases, best is to search for flaws or bad welding.

That is a very good point, and so only the heat tempering would show then.

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by JBG163

XasteriX
There is flaws on yours that would indicate a laminated structure.

Battara
Honestly, can't tell for yours !

Thanks very much for the assessment! Now I know.