Rusty Moro Kris

[mrwizard]

Recently i rescued this moro kris.
For my untrained eye it looks like Maguindanao and (because the ganja seem to be seperate) before 1900.
The hilt is not original to the blade as i can see traces of previously attached baca-baca in the black rust on the blade. The hilt is wrapped with cotton thread and covered with a kind of natural gum. Not pretty but very functional in my opinion. As the cotton is still white, i believe the blade has never been used after it got its latest outfit.
Compared to my WW2 kris the blade is very light and narrow and it seems to be far better balanced.

When i got it the blade was covered with a layer of active red rust. I carefully removed most the red rust and oiled the blade but as you can see on the photos there is still red rust left in some cavities.
For further cleaning i intend to take chemical measures (pineapple juice or diluted vinegar).
A problem is the hilt. The options as far as i can see is to either remove the hilt or to put the sword in an upstanding tube, so that the hilt is not covered by the solution.
What are your opinions on this matter?

Best Regards,
Thilo