Moro Twist Core Reborn

Atlantia · 7th March 2010, 11:55 PM

Bravo! That is a great job.

Dimasalang · 8th March 2010, 02:27 AM

WOW! Amesome work!

Battara · 8th March 2010, 03:25 AM

Very nice.

Love the twistcore.

kai · 9th March 2010, 12:50 AM

Congrats, Michael, for snapping this up! It's good to see the effort put into this old Sulu warrior.

I believe the central twistcore panel of most Moro kris was supposed to develop a topographic etch (like seen in e. g. many keris Bugis blades) while the edges were kept smooth. That can make repolishing such a blade a pretty difficult task.

Why didn't you replaced the missing silver topping of the upper katik? I bet Jose could have made 2 nice asang-asang to complete the whole piece before replacing the missing grip wrap. More likely than not, there also must have been a silver ferrule and another band of silver near the pommel for such a status piece.

Regards,
Kai

ThePepperSkull · 9th March 2010, 01:05 AM

I absolutely love that you chose to give this piece new life! I find the earlier Sulu Kris to have the most elegant shaping and curvature of this particular style of sword. I also agree with kai. Some silver fittings would be very lovely on this, but I feel as if there is a quiet elegance to how you chose to finish it and I think it looks great as-is. So with that, I must say I am a bit conflicted in how I feel about this as a finished piece. I reiterate that I love the way it looks right now, however.

Perhaps just a couple of asang-asang to keep with that aesthetic you developped already while sheathed?

The revealing of a little shine while unsheathing would be nice and non-invasive to the whole look of the finished piece while sheathed methinks.

CharlesS · 9th March 2010, 01:57 AM

While a silver ferrule and pommel ring might have really added to the piece's appearance, there was absolutely no evidence at all on the hilt that anything other than woven cord was ever there. It appears it was an older piece, simply done, and so we decided to keep to its modest origins.

mross · 9th March 2010, 02:58 AM

More before shots.

Philip · 9th March 2010, 03:01 AM

Also, there was a little brass strip alongside the grip that formed an "L" shape and terminated in a point along the short side of the ganja. It's a very thin, flimsy thing. I re-attached it before Charles did the cord wrap, and I could find no evidence that an asang-asang was ever mounted to it. If one of these stirrups were at one time attached there, one would expect the remnant of solder, a "shadow" or ghost in the patination of the metal, something like that. But nada. As Charles said, there was no evidence of metal ferrule or pommel band on the grip, and since this is such an early piece whose hilting may well be the original style, it was decided to restore it conservatively and not add anything.

Likewise, Mike and I agreed that the scabbard should strongly reflect the Malay traditions so evident in the blade, so the replacement sheath was designed accordingly.

9th March 2010, 02:58 AM	#7
mross Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 478	More before shots. Attached Images

7th March 2010, 11:55 PM	#1
Atlantia Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: The Sharp end Posts: 2,928	Bravo! That is a great job.

8th March 2010, 02:27 AM	#2
Dimasalang Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 264	WOW! Amesome work!

8th March 2010, 03:25 AM	#3
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,272	Very nice. Love the twistcore.

9th March 2010, 12:50 AM	#4
kai Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,255	Congrats, Michael, for snapping this up! It's good to see the effort put into this old Sulu warrior. I believe the central twistcore panel of most Moro kris was supposed to develop a topographic etch (like seen in e. g. many keris Bugis blades) while the edges were kept smooth. That can make repolishing such a blade a pretty difficult task. Why didn't you replaced the missing silver topping of the upper katik? I bet Jose could have made 2 nice asang-asang to complete the whole piece before replacing the missing grip wrap. More likely than not, there also must have been a silver ferrule and another band of silver near the pommel for such a status piece. Regards, Kai

9th March 2010, 01:05 AM	#5
ThePepperSkull Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 338	I absolutely love that you chose to give this piece new life! I find the earlier Sulu Kris to have the most elegant shaping and curvature of this particular style of sword. I also agree with kai. Some silver fittings would be very lovely on this, but I feel as if there is a quiet elegance to how you chose to finish it and I think it looks great as-is. So with that, I must say I am a bit conflicted in how I feel about this as a finished piece. I reiterate that I love the way it looks right now, however. Perhaps just a couple of asang-asang to keep with that aesthetic you developped already while sheathed? The revealing of a little shine while unsheathing would be nice and non-invasive to the whole look of the finished piece while sheathed methinks.

9th March 2010, 01:57 AM	#6
CharlesS Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Greenville, NC Posts: 1,854	While a silver ferrule and pommel ring might have really added to the piece's appearance, there was absolutely no evidence at all on the hilt that anything other than woven cord was ever there. It appears it was an older piece, simply done, and so we decided to keep to its modest origins.

9th March 2010, 03:01 AM	#8
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	Also, there was a little brass strip alongside the grip that formed an "L" shape and terminated in a point along the short side of the ganja. It's a very thin, flimsy thing. I re-attached it before Charles did the cord wrap, and I could find no evidence that an asang-asang was ever mounted to it. If one of these stirrups were at one time attached there, one would expect the remnant of solder, a "shadow" or ghost in the patination of the metal, something like that. But nada. As Charles said, there was no evidence of metal ferrule or pommel band on the grip, and since this is such an early piece whose hilting may well be the original style, it was decided to restore it conservatively and not add anything. Likewise, Mike and I agreed that the scabbard should strongly reflect the Malay traditions so evident in the blade, so the replacement sheath was designed accordingly.