Different iron and steels used in the forging of keris??

[Alam Shah]

Originally Posted by lemmythesmith

I am a keen amateur bladesmith and have been interested in Keris for quite some time. Recently I purchased the book "keris daya magic-manfaat-tuah-misteri" I noticed all the different kinds of iron and steel used in the forging of keris.

Hi Graham,
Welcome to the forum. Very interesting indeed...

Originally Posted by lemmythesmith

... I am making some pamor at the moment using Campo Del Cielo and Sikhote Alin meteor mixed with old saw blades and mild steel strip which gives a good contrast in the etch, is plain wrought iron sometimes used? I have some old iron which I think would be nice to include in the pamor mix-is this done?

I have both meteorite samples. It would be interesting for me to see the results. Wrought iron are used, as far as I know. For a bladesmith point of view, ask Alan.

Originally Posted by lemmythesmith

Can a keris produced outside of Malaysia be considered a "real" keris? My field of forging expertise lies with Japanese swords and to be a "true" sword it must be made from "tamahagane" or it is considered wrong. Would I have to use certain metals to produce real keris or can any iron or steel be used? Hope someone can help!! Regards, Graham.

Of course it can be produced outside of Malaysia and Indonesia, but imo, it's best to use traditional techniques. As for the tools, using modern power tools are acceptable and had been demonstrated. Keris are manufactured in many parts of South East Asia, which includes Indonesia, Malaysia and a few other countries... Do let us see the material that you've created.