Grandpa's Keris

Daniel · 18th January 2007, 02:48 PM

Thank you all for taking the time to post your opinions on this piece. I feel I have a much clearer idea now of what I have.

My Grandfather wasn't a knowlegeable collector, and brought back from his travels a whole mulligan stew of items including spear, blow gun, shields, and a variety of swords and knives. (unfortunately most of which was lost when my Grandma had a yard sale to get rid of "junk") But he had money to spend. This keris may well have been bought as a souvenier. I don't know.

I've had quite a bit of experience with metal finishing and patination--I've done some gunsmithing, antique restoration, etc. And I'm a pretty finicky craftsman. I think I can probably do the cleaning and staining myself. I don't assume it is a highly technical skill such as repolishing a Japanese blade. I'll do some research about the procedure and see what I can come up with. If I am successful, I'll post the results.

Thanks again for all your help.

DD

David · 18th January 2007, 04:42 PM

You might find this thread helpful. The hardest part is findind the arsenic trioxide. Other substances will darken a keris blade, but only arsenic will give you the correct colors, and even though, only if done properly. I would recommend that to make you initial attempts on some cheap blades, but even if you work on this one the process is, for the most part, reversable, as long as you don't seriously over-etch and eat away at the blade. That's kinda hard to do with pineapple juice or other fruit acids though.

http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000717.html

18th January 2007, 02:48 PM	#1
Daniel Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: California Posts: 16	Thank you all for taking the time to post your opinions on this piece. I feel I have a much clearer idea now of what I have. My Grandfather wasn't a knowlegeable collector, and brought back from his travels a whole mulligan stew of items including spear, blow gun, shields, and a variety of swords and knives. (unfortunately most of which was lost when my Grandma had a yard sale to get rid of "junk") But he had money to spend. This keris may well have been bought as a souvenier. I don't know. I've had quite a bit of experience with metal finishing and patination--I've done some gunsmithing, antique restoration, etc. And I'm a pretty finicky craftsman. I think I can probably do the cleaning and staining myself. I don't assume it is a highly technical skill such as repolishing a Japanese blade. I'll do some research about the procedure and see what I can come up with. If I am successful, I'll post the results. Thanks again for all your help. DD

18th January 2007, 04:42 PM	#2
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,218	You might find this thread helpful. The hardest part is findind the arsenic trioxide. Other substances will darken a keris blade, but only arsenic will give you the correct colors, and even though, only if done properly. I would recommend that to make you initial attempts on some cheap blades, but even if you work on this one the process is, for the most part, reversable, as long as you don't seriously over-etch and eat away at the blade. That's kinda hard to do with pineapple juice or other fruit acids though. http://www.vikingsword.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000717.html