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Difficulty’s in working with meteorite as a pamor material
How difficult is it to work meteorite pamor? I have been told that it is much harder to work meteorite pamor to achieve a desired pamor then it would be to make it with pure nickel material. Has anyone got any photos to explain the posibilitys/dificultys? Is it difficult to produce a good controlled pamor with meteorite material?
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What type of meteorite are you referring to?
I would suggest a search of the archives for discussions about meteorites. Here's an interesting thread: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=meteor |
Here
Read this .
Gentlemen: I am honored to present to you the comments of Dr. James Hrisoulas on meteoric material, its components, and words about the forging process. Part 1 Iron meteorites are characterized by the presence of two nickel-iron substances: kamacite and taenite. These, combined with minor amounts of nonmetallic and sulfide minerals, form the three basic types of Fe/Ni meteorites. Depending upon the percentage of nickel/iron, these are: hexahedrites (4-6% Ni) octahedrites (6-12% Ni) ataxites (12+% Ni) . Now the most common of these would be the Octahedrites, and these, when properly etched exhibit the well known Widmanstatten pattern* (that everyone goes gaw-gaw over...). http://www.meteorlab.com/METEORLAB2001dev/widpatrn.htm This unique crystal structure/pattern is the result of the combination of the two nickel-iron minerals kamacite and taenite being present in approximately equal amounts. Now that we have the bare bones basics out of the way I can get into the nuts and bolts. There was no way that any "ancient" smith/empu or anyone could know just from looking at any given fragment of Fe/Ni material exactly what they got ahold of. Now one must realize that the majority of Fe production at this time was more or less hit or miss when it came to "quality" and even then, that was speculative at best. Grading bloom iron was done by eye, experience and sometime "voo-doo metallurgy"..otherwise known as a blind guess, Now with experience and consistent methods in smelting a smith could get pretty good at separating the good from the not so great and go from there. I am NOT saying that the material was "bad," but it all depended upon the abilities and the skill of the smith involved, This is where the legendary smiths got started...Ones that had the "eye" and the "feel" to make decent iron, to make decent steel and to make the best whatever. Anyway, back on track. So you give a smith a chunk of meteorite, they think it is iron, they get it hot, smash it with a hammer and it crumbles to bits. It'll happen 9 times out of 10 this way. You need top "flatten it gently" and then sheath it in a good quality iron and weld it back, very similar to refining wrought iron bloom. This will help drive out all the "crud" and impurities as well as getting the grain structure refined and allowing it to weld back to itself without the red short effect (this is what the crumbling is commonly called). Now it is not unusual to have to add additional native Fe during this refinement as you loose to scale, oxidation and weld material loss between 3 to 7% of the volume every time a weld is made. The amount of loss varies with the skill and the working habits of the smith. Note: the following is for a "one piece laminate blade", not one with a centre core of higher C content steel: So you have the stuff "refined" and then you go onto the lamination... Now, since there is very little C content, this will have to be welded to a higher C content material, and from what I could find from doing examinations of blade shards, it must of been between 0.80 and 1.25% C material. as the C content in the laminate was at the norm, between 0.40/45% and 0.60/70% C.. (Usually 0.40%+ C is required to harden...this does vary a bit...) Now Ni does not form carbides, but the Ni content is not high enough to form a C barrier to C migration, so by the time the Fe/Ni material is refined, whatever C content was in the native Fe would be more or less homogenous throughout that material, and depending upon where the piece was positioned in the fire, additional C may have been introduced to the material or removed from it... For a three piece (Two laminate with one high carbon center section) blade the following was usually the way it was done: When the Fe/Ni is welded and laminated back unto itself, whatever C content that was in the native steel that was introduced into the mix would now be well distributed into the blade... This is why a lot of the traditionally made Keris have a higher C content center steel section within the laminate, as by the time the blade's outer "skin" (the patterned section) had a somewhat lower C content than would be optimal for hardening. Now this is all in very general terms here, and there are exceptions.... - First, there has been a lot of rumor surrounding the composition of Fe/Ni meteorites, and most of this mentions Ti... Now in all the Fe/Ni material I have examined, and from all the material I have seen analyzed, Ti simply is NOT present. Period. "Typical" content of various elements are: C: 0.05 to 0.20% Co: 0.50 to 0.72% Cu: 0.03 to 0.09% Cr: 0.04 to 0.10% Fe: 87.3 to 92.9% Ni: 4.1 to 12.9%+ P: 0.10 to 0.30% S: 0.08 to 0.20% Now realize that the above are average ranges for the material that I have seen doc's on and that has been otherwise examined. Ti has, as far as I know never been mentioned as far as being in a Fe/Ni material. Now in stony material, yes, but in only trace amounts. So what causes the pamor effect? Well, the C content isn't high enough so it is the Ni content mainly. Interesting point, one of the most "common" materials nowadays for pattern welding is L-6 steel which has a Ni content of only 1.75% (AISI spec's) and that material is favoured for its contrast with simple carbon steels (like a 10XX series), and the L-6 has less than 25% of the Ni than most Fe/Ni meteorites. It is the higher Ni content, along with the grain structure that can cause welding difficulties. Now since this material has such an elevated Ni content, a very "clean' fire must be used. Charcoal would be excellent for this purpose, as would a properly "tuned" gas furnace or a very well coked and CLEAN burning coal fire. The Ni does have a tendency to "pick up" all sorts of nasties in the atmosphere at such a high temperature, and this can (and usually is) very detrimental to the welding processes. So clean burning fuels are a requirement ... but be that as it may. How to tell? You really can't. Well, you can't without destructive testing. Some folks believe that meteoric pamor has a "greasy" feel, some say it has a "rough" feel and some say it even feels "prickly." Outside of actually watching the smith/empu work from the raw materials, the only way is metallurgical testing for alloy composition and that is a destructive test. And even then, if you don't know what to look for, you may not be able to tell. Now if you have a bone-fide "pre western world" contact Keris, and it shows a high contrast pamor, I would venture to say that it is probably extraterrestrial material. Simply due to the fact that Ni is present in such "large amounts." What does this mean? Actually, nothing in terms of a weapon/tool.. As far as the extraterrestrial stuff goes, it is a "raw material"....nothing more really. It does make for a good story though (I will refrain from getting into the esoteric). BUT,,,,no matter what the "olde tyme" smith/empu used, it is still some damn fine work considering that the "art" at the time where they practiced was little more than early Iron Age technology. I have literally 100s and 100s of Keris in my collections, along with kamplian, tambok, mandao and other pieces from that part of the world and it is truly amazing when one considers that these pieces were done with little more than a fire and a couple of rocks. All in all, there really isn't a reliable way (other than destructive testing) to say that any given piece is extraterrestrial. Not unless you actually watch the maker from start to finish. Now there was a heated discussion amongst several metallurgists that I comverse with a while back about the extraterrestrial material in Keris and other items from that part of the world, saying that the use of Fe/Ni meteorite resulted in the ever so rough surface after several etchings. Well, these folks should know better than to say that, given the nature of hand making iron and then turning the bloom into steel. The repeated welding/forging/welding processes, coupled with the cementation of C into the iron top form blister steel, and the further stacking and then welding of the blister material into shear steel would result in a "rough" surface appearance when etched for a considerable length of time. Sometimes folks "forget" the obvious for looking at the not to obvious. So anyway, that's all I can tell you about extraterrestrial materials as far as Pamor goes, I know it's not what you really wanted to hear but there is no "fool proof" way to tell if there is extraterrestrial material in any given piece, outside of destructive testing. And this is especially true if the smith/empu of any given piece was "worth his salt" and properly refined the meteorite before he incorporated it into the native iron. I have done literally 100s of pieces of pattern welded material with Fe/Ni meteorite in them and they all "worked differently" and well, I think that they turned out rather well, but the amount of time involved in just working the meteorite down to a usable material is considerable, and this is employing "modern" equipment such as gas furnaces and power hammers, and even then, the first few welding/drawing coursed must be done by hand or else you will have meteorite fragments flying all over at 2100 degrees F! Just being able to refine this material is amazing to me given the level of tooling and technology that these smiths/empu were working with. Well, it's just like I have said in the past, it isn't the tool that makes the art, it is the ARTIST. Jim Hrisoulas |
That's outstanding! Thank you Jim. :)
Rick, did you get this from Jim specifically in response to this thread? |
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Once you have gone through the effort of turning the meteorite into useable metal, it's not all that different from using commercial metal, but that first step is a considerable one. Jeff |
Thanks Jim, and thanks Rick for passing that on. A very informative post, but it is my suspicion that Pusaka is more interested in how difficult the process would be today than in the past. I could be wrong, but from past postings i got the impression that he was looking for someone to forge a new keris with meteoric pamor for himself. Still, your post shows how difficult (though certainly do-able) the process is.
I would disagree with Jim on one passage: Now if you have a bone-fide "pre western world" contact Keris, and it shows a high contrast pamor, I would venture to say that it is probably extraterrestrial material. Simply due to the fact that Ni is present in such "large amounts." It seems probable that much of the nickelous pamor material used was pamor luwu from Sulawesi. Though Groneman's studies show Ni content of that material at only 0.4%, Bronson, in his paper "Terrestial and meteoritic nickel in the Indonesian Kris" shows that there are deposits of ore on that island with at least 2.2% nickel content. I could be mistaken, but i believe that this level of Ni content would be sufficient to produce fairly high contrast patterns in pamor. Contrasting pamor, though not always nickelous in nature, where reported as early as 1433 in the descriptions of the knives carried by all Javanese men written by the Ma Haun. It is doubtful, IMO, that these early pamors were the product of meteoric Ni. |
Thanks for all the info guys
I’m guessing that modern Indonesian keris makers would get their meteorites from ebay like anyone else :D so nickel content and therefore pamor contrast would vary greatly depending what meteorite you selected. I am more interested in the difficulty’s a modern keris maker would face. Once the pamor is made is it more difficult to control then pure nickel, because that is what I was told. |
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I contacted Dr. Hrisoulas and asked him if he would be kind enough to comment on the subject . Since this subject has come up before I thought I'd just 'cut to the chase' and present this again for ease of access . |
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Do you really think these guys are actually buying meteorite on ebay to make keris with ? Especially when the only way you could tell if it was real would be through destructive testing !?! Please pardon my skepticism . :rolleyes: |
Believe it or not, Ebay is one of the main meteorite market places nowadays, the place to go in between mineral shows or if you don't have a dealer lined up. And yes, there are a few fake meteorites up for sale on any given day, but most of the stuff is real, and the meteorite dealers discuss the fakes on their discussion lists. The hard part of getting meteorites on ebay is knowing when you got a deal, and of course not getting sniped when you do get a deal. But the market for meteorites is such that some irons are generally cheap, some amazingly expensive, so with a little caution you can pick up forgeable extra-terrestrial iron for pennies a gram - which in itself is amazing.
Better to get a good relationship with a dealer, if you can find one who will give you wholesale prices, but ebay will do in a pinch. Quote:
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You have a long road of learning (about keris culture and Indonesia) ahead of you young man ; and unless you can be present for the forging of your 'meteorite' keris and actually see the meteorite incorporated into the wilah I fear very much that you will be duped . :( |
My comment was more to the manner in which you said it then what you said, Where I come from this >>> (:rolleyes: )is an insult so why use it? Is there any need to be rude??
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Ok, its time to take a deep breath, everyone... :)
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Well Pusaka, i wouldn't get too hung up on emoticons. I have never personally seen ( :rolleyes: ) as a direct insult, just simply sarcasm. Don't lose sight of the content because of it. I say this because whether or nor you like the way Rick said it, i would agree with him that the likelihood of your commissioned meteorite keris not having any actual meteorite in it could be pretty high and it would be nearly impossible to tell one way or the other once the keris is forged.
So a huge caveat emptor here, my friend. :) |
< Deep breath taken ; thank you Kai Wee > :)
Pusaka , if you read post #3 I think you would have seen the following passage : " So you give a smith a chunk of meteorite, they think it is iron, they get it hot, smash it with a hammer and it crumbles to bits. It'll happen 9 times out of 10 this way. You need to "flatten it gently" and then sheath it in a good quality iron and weld it back, very similar to refining wrought iron bloom. This will help drive out all the "crud" and impurities as well as getting the grain structure refined and allowing it to weld back to itself without the red short effect (this is what the crumbling is commonly called). " The Pandai Keris forges of Jawa and Madura are not flush with Yoder power hammers and all sorts of modern equipment to do their work . They would doubtless still use the old method by hand as described in the above passage by Dr. Hrisoulas . So when you say : " I’m guessing that modern Indonesian keris makers would get their meteorites from ebay like anyone else so nickel content and therefore pamor contrast would vary greatly depending what meteorite you selected. I am more interested in the difficulty’s a modern keris maker would face. " My eyes roll ; why would an Indonesian Pandai keris (not Empu) waste his money (what little he has) bidding for meteor pieces on ebay for inclusion into the pamor of a keris which when finished cannot be proven to have meteoritic pamor without destructive testing when it would be so much easier just to claim meteoritic origin ? So I guess that it would be *possible* for your scenario to happen but IMO it's very unlikely . |
I was told of a different method of making the meteorite pamor. It is true that when you heat a meteorite it will crumble into bits. I was told that iron filings are mixed with the meteorite and then pounded together to form a usable pamor material.
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According to Ki Empu Djeno Harumbrodjo: http://www.joglosemar.co.id/whos/djeno.html
“Physically, the materials for manufacturing must be prepared such as, 12 Kg of Iron; 0.5 Kg of Nickel, 100 grams of meteorite” This means that a typical meteorite pamor keris consists of 95% Iron, 4% Nickel and only 1% meteorite material. It would indeed be impossible to detect that 1% meteorite content without chemical analysis. I’m guessing that he adds the extra nickel to obtain a bright pamor as the meteorite if used without adding nickel would probably produce a dull pamor. |
And it is still called meteorite though it is already technically engineered on earth ? I thought meteorite is extra terrestrial metal. Darn. :)
Traditional methods usually have empirical approaches and tends to stray the constructiev progress to superstitions. Modern methods usually have technical scientific engineering approaches and tends to deny the real magic of the old world with logic. This thread will not be complete if the metal tempering area has not been covered. Like I was told that keris is tempered by dipping the whole blade into water without any temperature and timing standard but only by the smith's feeling. And still it could produce a variation blade texture like the pamor materials go out of the surface or dive into the blade, making a beautiful pamor of Ron Genduro or Bulu Ayam. Is that the same meteorite, just temper play (e.g partial tempering) or because different hardness of different metal which harder metal squeezes softer one during tempering? :) Is it scientificly possible that combined mixture of metals in pamor could naturally produce electro-voltaic energy like a electro-static capacitor? Hmm., I don't see any use of the answers for myself :rolleyes: but it could be useful to others who might need it to improve keris smith in Indonesia. Thank you in advance for your gentle answers, you know, I do try to ask the question gently. :) ~Hing ngarson sing tuladha, hing madya mangun karsa, tut wuri handayani :) |
Gee Purwacarita, you asked the question so gently that i'm not even sure exactly what it is you are asking.....or trying to say. :)
And would you mind translating that last line for this ignorant American? :) |
Hi nechesh. It's good to read your gentle sarcasm once again. Last time you charged this innocent :rolleyes: young man with accusation of disrespect. :o
I recall that I've described the meaning in my last post several months ago, and now you ask me to describe it once again while you ignore it ? Please,.... give me a break! :rolleyes: Many others can do the job much better than me. :) It is a philosophycal principle of idealism of life by Ki Hajar Dewantara. He is reknown as the father of education of Indonesia. The meaning of the principle is that people have three positions, in front, in the middle, and in the rear. Where people in front position should give good examples, while people in the middle shall share spirit with their surrounding neighbor to constructiveness. At last where people in the rear position must stimulate others with contructive motivation. It is felt that the difference between these three position is that people in front is somehow entitled leaders, in the middle - the workers, in the rear - wives. :rolleyes: Though in the beginning this saying is the principle mostly refers to teachers in education field, nowadays only a few is willing to explore to its deeper meaning. It is an Indonesia national saying rarely spoken again, I hate it when you're right, but more or less it's because of capitalism like you quoted earlier. We have a national symbol too which has a saying in the ribbon banner, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika. It means Diversity in Unity. So easy to say but very hard to implement specially in new communities where everyone else is different. I guess that what causes the 2 blasts and Jagadnata bombing, some people cannot accept that we are different from them. ~Hing ngarso sing tuladha, Hing madya mangun karsa, Tut Wuri Handayani. :) Gitu Loh! :) |
Pusaka, I believe joglosemar wrongfully quote Empu Djeno. If we use meteorite as a pamor material, we needs roughly twice times than the pure nickel amount. So, it should be : "0.5 Kg. Meteorite, 100 grams (pure) Nickel". We should put "or" between meteorite and nickel, since when you have 0.5Kg good meteorite at hand, it should be sufficient to make a good pamor without the additions of nickel, and if we have 100 gram nickel it should also sufficient, and any additions of meteorite should be considered as "magical purpose". 0.5 kg nickel would be too much. (IMHO, the correct entry should be: 12 Kg iron, 0.5 Kg Steel, 100 gr. Nickel or 200 gr meteorite). Please remember, I'm talking about a very good pamor material, as good as Prambanan Meteorite. Having opportunity of handling personally this pamor, I must say, it resembles a pieces of iron than a piece of stone. It shows metallic-grey when you scratch it, and it is very likely that you don't need to wrap it with a stripe of wrought iron to prepare it, as long as you hammer it carefully. Empu Jeno, I believe, was only working succesfully on this very good meteorite pamor material, when Sultan HB IX commisioned a keris, and didn't add any nickel since he had sufficient amount. Empu Jeno told me that he needs to put the big chunk on forge for 3 days just to cut a small pieces of material needed. He also told me that once a Belgian came to commision a keris and also brought meteorite as the pamor material. But Jeno said that it was "unproper type" meteorite, and thus, he could not use it. I have never heard that Empu Jeno works on meteorite pamor material other than Prambanans. This meteorite, and kerises, will be exhibited in Sekaten Festival of Kraton Jogjakarta, which will be held this year on 1 - 11 April 2006.
Best Regards, Boedhi Adhitya |
What called Steel is a variation of Fe and C combination imho. Jim Hrisoulas has done well with modern formula but it'll take time before become absorbable into traditional methods of keris smith. If a Belgian was serious enough to commission a traditional keris smith process, don't you think that someone should repay the visit?
~Hing ngarsa sing tuladha, hing madya mangun karsa, tut wuri handayani. :) |
Thank you Boedhi Adhitya for that information. What is the maximum quantity of meteorite material you could successfully forge a keris with?
I remember being told that meteorite material used to be sold in the market in Solo, Jawa. If so what was that meteorite used for and where did it come from, it is doubtful that it was from the prambanan meteor IMO. Purwacarita, interesting question. I have often wondered the same. The pamor layers could never be arranged to produce a capacitor effect because a capacitor needs an insulator material between the conductor plates to work. There is no material in the keris blade which would be considered an electrical insulator so producing a capacitor effect using pamor arrangements is not possible. It is possible that you may get a primitive voltaic pile effect which would produce a miniscule surface current. In that case some pamor types would be better then others at producing it but it would have no practical use. |
Thank you Pusaka for making clearer the "gentle" question Purwacarita was attempting to ask. I was more curious about that than the translation, but i do appreciate Purwa going into the explanation of it's meaning again.
Purwacarita, that was some time ago. Indonesian is not my language and though it did look somewhat familar i couldn't really place it. So your "Please......give me a break! :rolleyes: " was really un-called for. I meant no sarcasm, gentle or otherwise. This is an English speaking forum and i believe that it has been asked many times in the past that translations be provided. I would also ask that you don't enter into these discussions with a chip on your shoulder. If you have a problem with anything i said to you in the past i ask that you either keep it there or work it out with me in PM. I try to treat everyone here fairly based upon the dialog of the PRESENT. Dregging up past disputes in unrelated debates is both counterproductive and distructive to the current discussion, don't you think? :) Pusaka, if you read carefully through the thread that Andrew linked in the beginning of this thread i think you will find a post that references a book which makes mention of the fact that empus were often given quite a bit more Prambanan meteorite than was necessary to make the commissioned keris. Perhaps this could explain at least some of the meteorite that used to be found on sale in Javanese marketplaces. :) |
meteorite in keris
In very early times meteoritic material was incorporated into blades because it was an available form of relatively refined iron. Later on, it was incorporated more for the 'Power' aspect, as it "came from the sky".
I have heard of keris that were made with various irons and steels, including one made from eight different types of steel, all of which were stolen. This points to a desire to make a keris with more than just 'Normal' properties, and since keris is so charged with 'spiritual' energy the meteorite would be included in the mix to strengthen those qualities, rather than improving the quality of the steel to make a better weapon. In ancient Mexico, weapons were left where a 'spirit' could touch them and make them more powerful.Chaka Zulu's first Assegai, a weapon that was instrumental in his view of military strategy, in that it was for tactically advanced hand-to-hand combat rather that the relatively formalized throwing spear used in "Throw and dodge" formalized fighting, was tempered with hyena and lion intestines by Isangoma, his spiritual advisor. There are many ways that weapons can be 'charged' in various parts of the world, and because a weapon is concerned with life and death it's often respected as more than a 'tool'. Weapons have been personalized ("Ol' Betsy", Ironsides") and rightly. If a weapon preserved your life, or took another's life in the process, it became more than 'just a friend'. Gosh, I hope that I didn't step on anyone's toes! |
Ah...written words are like double edged swords, we are communicating and gathering minds but it won't replace face to face interaction where we'd less likely misinterpret each other if we took the time to talk. In a forum or learning session someone has to ask the questions whether they be innocent or not or there wouldn't be a forum...in a tapestry of all knowledge we'd all each possess less then a shred of a thread of a fiber of dust...lolz humor, patience and humility my friends
On that note...I like this thread, yet another one on the volatile keris. I would think on a spiritual level knowing even just a shard or speck of metorite dust used in a personal keris would be sufficient enough for some, without getting too scientific into the exact content, although the analysis is interesting. |
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On that note, i believe perhaps ALL of my keris might have just a little bit of metorite in them.... ;) :D |
There are those in the Silat community who would argue that it’s more than just belief but that there is a quality a meteorite pamor keris has which others don’t have. Perhaps there are some Silat practitioners here that would like to talk about this, or not :)
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Hi nechesh. Have you had a PM from me? :) It's what I meant that we must treat fairly. There has been injustice but we cannot retaliate violence with violence.
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~Hing ngarsa sing tuladha, Hing madya mangun karsa, Tut wuri Handayani :)
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I am surprised, even with Boedhi Adhitya`s higher estimate the composition of a typical meteorite pamor keris is 94% Iron, 4% Steel and only 2% meteorite material.
I had always thought that the meteorite content of the pamor would have been several times that quantity. I was shown a meteorite keris and the seller said it had a pamor made with 70% meteorite content, what do you think, is that even possible???? Considering the absolutely tiny content of meteorite in a meteorite pamor keris I don’t think the high prices for such items is even justified. |
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In a word Pusaka, NO, i don't think that is possible. :) Sellers will tell you many stories in order to sell their wares. Caveat Emptor! ;) |
I have made knives with 50% meteorite, and 100% is certainly doable, but the blade would not hold a very good edge. 70% should look very silver when freshly etched.
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On the meta-meteorite side of things, the Earth is made up of recycled meteorites, i.e. the entire solar system is made up of the same original dust cloud. But the parts of the dust cloud that have been in cold storage for 4.56 billion years (meteorites) are pretty cool. |
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I believe pure nickel as a pamor will also look very silvery and white.
Jeff, correct me if i am wrong, but you seem to be speaking from a modern custom knife making perspective. I certainly do believe that higher percentage meteoric blades are possible to construct, but do you really think this is happening in the keris world? |
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Purwacarita, Necesh, will you drop it, please? Consider yourselves warned.
Feel free to continue the substance of the discussion, and feel free to continue your personal discussions via PM and e-mail. However, leave out the side comments in your forum posts. |
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I am definitely NOT well enough informed to say if this is happening in the keris world. The difficulty of working the material and the romance/coolness factor of meteoric material would lead me to believe that meteorite content would tend to get exagerated and/or invented in most cases, but it also leads me to hope that there are a few traditionally-minded smiths out there working it, too. |
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