My First Experience With Scarf Welding on a Moro Kriss

CharlesS · 17th April 2022, 04:30 PM

Scarf welding is not particularly uncommon on Malay sundang, but this is my first experience with it on a Moro kriss. The forte seems to be from steel more comparable to 'pamor' steel, but you can easily see where that stops and the more imaginative pattern weld begins.

The copper-wrapped hilt is unique as well.

David R · 17th April 2022, 05:15 PM

It's always interesting to see these sort of details. I wonder if this was a matter of using up material that was on hand, or a repair-recycle of a broken blade.

kronckew · 17th April 2022, 06:47 PM

I'd like to see the other side of the blade near the tang/grip. The delamination in the middle looks like a smith that got too fancy stacking and forge welding & didn't want to start over and waste more time on it, rather than a scarf. A scarf near the tang between a less hard & more resilient tang piece, and a hardener blade would not be uncommon or deleterious in a new blade or a repaired blade whose tang had snapped for being too hard. Is that copper or suasa alloy? Looks rather untarnished for copper.

David R · 18th April 2022, 12:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kronckew

I'd like to see the other side of the blade near the tang/grip. The delamination in the middle looks like a smith that got too fancy stacking and forge welding & didn't want to start over and waste more time on it, rather than a scarf. A scarf near the tang between a less hard & more resilient tang piece, and a hardener blade would not be uncommon or deleterious in a new blade or a repaired blade whose tang had snapped for being too hard. Is that copper or suasa alloy? Looks rather untarnished for copper.

I wondered if it was suasa as well.

Battara · 19th April 2022, 02:31 AM

Only testing will tell for sure.

However, by the hue of the metal, I'm actually leaning toward copper.

CharlesS · 19th April 2022, 01:22 PM

More pics...definitely polished copper and the scarf weld.
You may have already noticed a considerable number of forging flaws in the pattern weld.

Ian · 19th April 2022, 06:22 PM

Charles,

I'm thinking the hilt decoration is a relatively recent redo. The asang asang are not a pair, with the second one looking quite new, and the cord wrap also looks fairly recent to me. The pommel seems older and could be original. The blade itself appears to be 19th C work.

CharlesS · 19th April 2022, 10:26 PM

Ian, it’s a good point you make. Originally the copper cover was a patinated black. I polished it to get it back to the way it looked originally. It may be a later addition, but the cording is dry rotted and very fragile which lends some credence to its age. I think this is quite an old sword so the fact that it may have seen several grip re-dos would not surprise me at all.

Rick · 29th April 2022, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CharlesS

You may have already noticed a considerable number of forging flaws in the pattern weld.

The considerable number of flaws makes me wonder if the blade had been broken, and because, for whatever reason, the pattern welded blade was recycled and given a new life.
I also wonder if the pamor patterns have any meaning that could be interpreted as would be found on/in a Jawa keris?

We seem to see more and more Moro swords lately that display manipulated work which, I guess, begs the question about Pamors and whether the Malays/ Moros attributed any powers to them, or whether it was just considered fancy work.

17th April 2022, 04:30 PM	#1
CharlesS Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Greenville, NC Posts: 1,855	My First Experience With Scarf Welding on a Moro Kriss Scarf welding is not particularly uncommon on Malay sundang, but this is my first experience with it on a Moro kriss. The forte seems to be from steel more comparable to 'pamor' steel, but you can easily see where that stops and the more imaginative pattern weld begins. The copper-wrapped hilt is unique as well. Attached Images Last edited by CharlesS; 17th April 2022 at 04:33 PM. Reason: pictures omitted

19th April 2022, 01:22 PM	#6
CharlesS Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Greenville, NC Posts: 1,855	More pics...definitely polished copper and the scarf weld. You may have already noticed a considerable number of forging flaws in the pattern weld. Attached Images

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17th April 2022, 05:15 PM	#2
David R Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 1,051	It's always interesting to see these sort of details. I wonder if this was a matter of using up material that was on hand, or a repair-recycle of a broken blade.

17th April 2022, 06:47 PM	#3
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,150	I'd like to see the other side of the blade near the tang/grip. The delamination in the middle looks like a smith that got too fancy stacking and forge welding & didn't want to start over and waste more time on it, rather than a scarf. A scarf near the tang between a less hard & more resilient tang piece, and a hardener blade would not be uncommon or deleterious in a new blade or a repaired blade whose tang had snapped for being too hard. Is that copper or suasa alloy? Looks rather untarnished for copper.

19th April 2022, 02:31 AM	#5
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,139	Only testing will tell for sure. However, by the hue of the metal, I'm actually leaning toward copper.

19th April 2022, 06:22 PM	#7
Ian Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Aussie Bush Posts: 4,023	Charles, I'm thinking the hilt decoration is a relatively recent redo. The asang asang are not a pair, with the second one looking quite new, and the cord wrap also looks fairly recent to me. The pommel seems older and could be original. The blade itself appears to be 19th C work.

19th April 2022, 10:26 PM	#8
CharlesS Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Greenville, NC Posts: 1,855	Ian, it’s a good point you make. Originally the copper cover was a patinated black. I polished it to get it back to the way it looked originally. It may be a later addition, but the cording is dry rotted and very fragile which lends some credence to its age. I think this is quite an old sword so the fact that it may have seen several grip re-dos would not surprise me at all.