A Moro Kris With Restoration Questions
 

This is another moro Kris which ive recently bought , as you can see it need some tlc , the hilt has moved up the tang at some point making the gangya/guard loose and now has fixed itself in this position I expect the tang has rusted and is holding the hilt here , any ideas on how to loosen this and get it back into its right place , also as you can see there has been a rectangle hole made in the pommel ,was this for inlay of some type?
I would also like to rebind the hilt but im unsure what type of binding material to use , I think it will be a very handsome sword when finished .
Thanks for any help you can give

I have eventually managed to release the hilt with penetrating oil and lots of patience , the tang was very rusted , after disassembling the hilt I gave everything a good clean and fixed it all back together with the help of some epoxy resin to hold the hilt tight , the result I think is very good , I bound the hilt the best I could with what I had , just thought I would show how it came out .

Nice restoration work!

Good work CHK, congrats! :) I would have tried to keep the both remaining braided fiber rings and just blacken them again. :shrug: But like said, good result.

Regards,
Detlef

You work fast, cleaning and restoring Chief. I will have to agree with Sajen on keeping the original braided rings. Nice work.

I’m speculating that the rectangular cavity in the pommel was once inlaid with the same type of wood. Instead of having to start over and re-carving, it was just filled in.

See the repair work on this Kampilan hilt. Same repair work possibly.

Hi Chief,

Nice restoration and cleaning. I agree that keeping the braided rings would have been more in keeping how it looked in the original culture, but the whipped black cord looks very neat. Having an original anting anting is a nice touch too.

Kino's suggestion about a prior repair to the pommel sounds right to me. I've seen similar repairs on a barung hilt as well. The quality of the repair on kino's kampilan looks particularly good to me and might have been done by the original carver of that hilt.

Ian

I have really enjoyed restoring this sword ,which I dedicated a whole day to get it done , I was in two minds about the brading , there was only one section that was intact and so I left it off as it wouldn't match the new ones , I lightly etched the blade which came up very nice , I prefer not to clean these sword up too much as they can loose there aged look but this one had to be put right ,I couldn't live with the loose hilt , now it looks quite impressive with the bright silver bands against the black braiding , I dont think I will try to tackle putting a wooden inlay into the pommel !
Thanks for all your responses

I am in the process of purchasing this Kris here in the UK. What I would like to know, what would have originally been inlayed into the pommel? To my eyes the hole was cut at the time of making the pommel, just does not look natural. This is a well travelled kris.

Like stated in up, the same type of wood as the pommel.

Regards,
Detlef

Clearly been cut at the time of making. Why cut a hole to fill with the same wood? I have ivory and mop, also human teeth but that is a Fijian thing.

conch?

Could have been ivory or MOP. At this point we will never know for sure, so if you choose to fill it with some material i would say it is dealer's choice. ;)

I am trying to find a material that may have been inlayed to the pommel. If there is anybody with knowledge of magical amulets relating to the list below would be very helpful.

Kabal (or kunat) - agimat that supposedly make the skin invulnerable to cuts and sword slashes.[14]
Pamako - agimat or orasyon (magical prayer) that supposedly nail down entities to keep them from moving[15]
Tagabulag - agimat that supposedly turns the wearer invisible against their enemy[14] or blind them[15]
Tagaliwas - agimat that can supposedly deflect bullets[15]

What is going on here, English translation would be very informative.

https://fb.watch/tOXevo9wl1/

Hi Tim,

I don't think that there was any other material inlaid than wood, it could be that there was a knothole so the maker inlayed the same type of wood.

This place would be very unusual for an amulette.

Regards,
Detlef

I should stick to what I know . There is no going back know.

Pamako could mean nail when the language is Tagalog, but I doubt it's Tagalog language.
Sorry, I still strongly doubt that there was an amulet inlay, I have seen several inlays in Moro wooden pommels like shown in up.
Amulets (anting anting) are most of the time coins or fabric. Do a little bit search at this place and you will find several examples.
Here is a restoration with MOP but I guess that there was once a coin.
Regards,
Detlef

That's exactly the problem, we just don't know and only can guess! ;)
I think Chiefheadknocker had once made the correct decision to let it like it is!

Agree with Detlef. These woods have very contorted grain patterns and can often have voids or checks in the material. I expect these inlays are for this purpose.
Imagine putting all the work into shaping a beautifully grained pommel and coming across a void. Throw out your work or patch it with a matching piece.
I doubt these are talismanic at all.

Hello Tim,

I'm with Detlef, Albert, and Rick - most certainly this was an inset wooden patch to repair any defect in the material. This is not unusual with Moro burlwood hilts, especially larger ones (cp. Albert's example).

An inlay from the same piece of wood will have blended in well. The position would not lend itself for any contrasting inset - just looks bad. As an alternative to keep it as is, you could try filling it with a resin paste with wood dust and matching color (or as last resort go for a blackish resin patch).

Regards,
Kai

one last comment
 

I am not familiar with these weapons. I was surprised how heavy the blade is on this piece. I had a straight bladed version possibly of similar age, I think the blade was quite a bit lighter in weight. I sold it to Detlef he might still have it. When in your hand the cut rectangle does not stand out and jar the eye. All I have done is to colour the chipped area so it does not, hit your like a big pizza pie:rolleyes:

Jep, Tim, I still have it in my collection. ;)