A possibly rehandled klewang

blue lander · 15th November 2013, 03:05 PM

I bought this off e-bay from an indonesian seller as a klewang, though the shape to me looks more like some sort of golok. The seller believed the blade was older than the handle or sheath. The sheath does look like a newer, shiner wood to me and it doesn't exactly fit the blade, but the handle looks pretty old. The blade itself has a lot of small cracks that look superficial, and the edge itself looks like it's crumbling apart. I don't see any evidence of a steel core peeking through where the nickle/iron has crumbled away.

It looks like the bolster used to have some sort of outer layer wrapped around it, you can still see a little of it left. It looks like silver to me, maybe it was scavanged at some point. You can also see a faint pattern on the spine of the blade. It's barely visible in pictures, so I took the liberty of drawing the pattern I see on the picture.

The rest of the handle is in pretty rough shape, but it's still quite sturdy. It looks like there may have been something wrapped around it as well, or maybe it's just a pattern carved into the wood.

The handle and sheath have what looks like sticky residue from packing tape or something. Can I clean it off with a citrus based product like "goo gone" without damaging the wood?

15th November 2013, 03:05 PM	#1
blue lander Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 456	A possibly rehandled klewang I bought this off e-bay from an indonesian seller as a klewang, though the shape to me looks more like some sort of golok. The seller believed the blade was older than the handle or sheath. The sheath does look like a newer, shiner wood to me and it doesn't exactly fit the blade, but the handle looks pretty old. The blade itself has a lot of small cracks that look superficial, and the edge itself looks like it's crumbling apart. I don't see any evidence of a steel core peeking through where the nickle/iron has crumbled away. It looks like the bolster used to have some sort of outer layer wrapped around it, you can still see a little of it left. It looks like silver to me, maybe it was scavanged at some point. You can also see a faint pattern on the spine of the blade. It's barely visible in pictures, so I took the liberty of drawing the pattern I see on the picture. The rest of the handle is in pretty rough shape, but it's still quite sturdy. It looks like there may have been something wrapped around it as well, or maybe it's just a pattern carved into the wood. The handle and sheath have what looks like sticky residue from packing tape or something. Can I clean it off with a citrus based product like "goo gone" without damaging the wood? Attached Images Last edited by blue lander; 15th November 2013 at 10:16 PM.