Shortening the pesi?

[A. G. Maisey]

Lew, in a general sense I agree with both Rick and David, but the there are other considerations.

The fact of the matter is this:- on a normal mid to low quality blade , I do not know one person in the keris world in Jawa who would hestitate for more time than it took to pick up a hacksaw, to shorten a pesi if a long pesi compromised the fitting of a hilt that he wanted to fit.

However, the first line of approach should always be to drill the hilt deeper. If the hilt is the correct type for the blade, there should not be an issue of the pesi being too long.But when you try to fit ,say, a Jawa or Bali keris to a Bugis hilt, then you have a problem. To a degree this problem can sometimes be reduced by bending the pesi to allow it to follow the curve of a Bugis hilt.

When you drill, it is very important to make sure that the hole does not go out through the back of the handle. I've seen literally hundreds of handles where this has happened, and I've done it myself. It helps to avoid this problem if you hold the hilt in your hand when you drill, rather than put it in a vice. With the handle in your hand, you can feel when the drill bit is getting close to the wood.

If a blade is of superior quality, then the preservation of the blade is prioritised, rather than the desire to achieve a visual effect. There is a solid commercial reason for this:- a prime quality blade with a shortened pesi is worth less than a prime quality blade with a complete pesi. The same parameter does not apply to ordinary blades.

There is an esoteric aspect also, however by the people I know who can be considered to really understand the keris, this is regarded pretty much as a matter of "what you don't know won't hurt you". In other words, if you have some sort of belief in the power of a particular keris and you don't know that the pesi has been shortened, for you, that keris has not got any decreased power.