My first Moro Kris stain attempt

[kai]

Brushing on warm vinegar is pretty effective on kris. It is slow acting and easy to control. If you keep the vinegar moving you can get good, even results.
Full imersion is a good way to go, but not really necessary.

Yes. If the etching is not strong enough to your tastes, ramp up the temperature (vinegar and blade) first - that's usually sufficient for good results.

Regards,
Kai

[Bill M]

Will see about getting the stain I just put on removed. Should I try polishing? Or something else that will chemically remove it?



As I am cleaning and polishing the blade it seems as if the kris enjoys this attention. Weird, huh?

Also likes, especially, to be stroked from the hilt to the tip. I have heard other people tell me thsi is the proper way to polish a kris, and it really seems right.

It is a similar feeling I get when petting my dogs. Feels good to me and feels good to them.

Well, I will gte on thos later. Got to get to work, now.

Thanks for the help. Will share smome more pictures tonight.

[Gt Obach]

thank you David

my bad
glad you set me straight on the etch... (its definitely not my area as i'm a wootz man )

however i really love the patternwelds on these kinds of blades..... i don't post on them because i'm very lost on the language and descriptions...

by the way... the blade looks to be made of bloom steel... i've hammer welded some steel from wrought iron (wrought being a processed bloom steel) ... and after it is etched, will have very similar surface pattern...... it is really apparent as you polish because you will notice small inclusions in the steel (which are silicous slags from the original bloom ).... this is not the same as welding flaws...

take care
Greg

ps... more pic's please

[kai]

Will see about getting the stain I just put on removed. Should I try polishing?

Yes, I'd go for slight repolishing - probably very little effort needed. This will result in crisp staining. (Make sure to remove any traces of oils/chemicals/whatever afterwards: a clean blade is a very decisive factor for etching as Greg already pointed out.)

Soaking a blade in cool vinegar often removes prior stains but, due to the more etched surface, can result in less "crisp" staining.

Regards,
Kai

[kai]

Is it just me or do others think as well that this might be a really nice kris from one of the Lumad groups? From my observations, the carvings at the gangya area appear atypical for Moro designs. Especially the weird file work around the "elephant/eagle mouth" as well as the rather short & stubby other side of the gangya seem to be more consistent with other Lumad examples.

Could someone of the more knowledgeable folks comment on the hilt carvings, please? Any hints here?

BTW, Bill, can you ascertain that the gangya is separate?

Regards,
Kai

[Bill]

Originally Posted by kai

Is it just me or do others think as well that this might be a really nice kris from one of the Lumad groups? From my observations, the carvings at the gangya area appear atypical for Moro designs. Especially the weird file work around the "elephant/eagle mouth" as well as the rather short & stubby other side of the gangya seem to be more consistent with other Lumad examples.

Regards,
Kai

Be nice for a smith to reply on this one. My guess is that "elephant" is usually worked into rough form by the smith & finished with file work. This one looks like it was made blank & the entire "elephant" is file work.

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by Bill

Be nice for a smith to reply on this one. My guess is that "elephant" is usually worked into rough form by the smith & finished with file work. This one looks like it was made blank & the entire "elephant" is file work.

Bill,

I will make some closeups of this area and post tomorrow night.

Manong

[Nagawarrior]

Bill,
I always dilute the PCB etchant 3 to 1 with distilled or pure filtered water. I find it works much better that way. If you put it on straight you get a weird hue on the blade. Then of course neutralize with baking soda.
Stephen

[kai]

Hello Bill,

This one looks like it was made blank & the entire "elephant" is file work.

In this piece it's not only the atypical form but also the position (especially compared to the gangya separation line) as well as the proportions which seem to be off for Moro artisans. This may not be as obvious to bladesmiths from other tribes and the main reason for me guessing at a Lumad origin...

Regards,
Kai

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by kai

Is it just me or do others think as well that this might be a really nice kris from one of the Lumad groups? From my observations, the carvings at the gangya area appear atypical for Moro designs. Especially the weird file work around the "elephant/eagle mouth" as well as the rather short & stubby other side of the gangya seem to be more consistent with other Lumad examples.

Could someone of the more knowledgeable folks comment on the hilt carvings, please? Any hints here?

BTW, Bill, can you ascertain that the gangya is separate?

Regards,
Kai

Kia,

I would really like to know more about this piece. The ganga IS separate. I also have a scabbard that looks like the handle carving. Unfortunately the scabbard is brokena nd has pieces missing.

I did re-stain it tonight, but forgot about heating the blade first, so the stain did not work very well. Cleaned and neutralized it (baking sods?), rinsed and dried it carefully. Will work on it some more tomorrow night.

Bill

[kai]

Hello Bill,

Thanks for confirming the separate gangya! In which direction is the grain of the gangya steel?

I also have a scabbard that looks like the handle carving. Unfortunately the scabbard is brokena nd has pieces missing.

Please post it, too! May yield some more clues...

Regards,
Kai

[Ferguson]

Bill,
This is probably a stupid question, but are you sure the gangya is separate? In your (very good) pictures, it looks like it could just be an incised line. Either way, it's a fine piece!

Here's a pic of my carved hilt sundang with an attached gangya. Mine has sloppy engraving of the line, but a nice pattern welded blade, and nice wood.

Steve