Winter Project
 

i recently came across a kris that's in a terrible condition, and when i got it yesterday, it was worse than i thought. nevertheless, i thought that it will be worth it since it's actually a very old one; archaic as some of you might call it. the blade is 19 inches long, a heavy silver kakatua pommel and a unique ornated handle. it would be interesting when i'm all done with this.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/PA153164.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/PA153166.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/PA153165.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/PA153158.jpg

some more...


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/PA153157.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/PA153156.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/PA153155.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/PA153154.jpg


the gangya ins crusted with rust, which is going to be the biggest problem. i'm hoping it's not as bad as it looks...

Wow, that will indeed be a project. Going to be a long winter i suppose. ;)
Good luck with this and keep us posted. Looks like it deserves to be saved if you can. :)

well, they're calling for a long cold winter in our fave state, dave, hehe... It's definitely going to be a meticulous step by step project. I 've done either the scabbard OR the sword, but never on the same package.
another interesting aspect of the blade is how the asang is attached to the handle. Will take pics of this later on.
btw, has anyone ever seen inlays on archaic type kris before? :confused:

That is not what Cato refers to as a 18C. I believe it is Sulu late 19thC.
That really is a project, the rust looks pretty deep. Good Luck.

Hmm, it’s quite a challenge – but then again, a challenge is always interesting when it has something to do with you hobby – good luck.

Looks very worthy of restoration. Slow and steady and I think the results will suprise you.

Do I smell Pineapple juice ?? ;) :D

Or are you going to try another method ?

here's the dilemma; the easiest way would be to remove the handle, but not knowing the extent of degradation, it would be a bit of a gamble. Using acid would be the safest route, but I reckon it would take a very long time. I'm gonna try something in between. In the meantime, I'd prolly work on the scabbard first.
I'm quite concern about the filework on this. I'm kinda hoping it's all buried in that rust...

I wish you a very long and cold winter. Looks to me as a great project.

Keep us informed.

Interesting project and I think that the result will be a very good one.

been working on it here and there. i had a pleasant surprise when i shined the pommel. it's two toned, and appears to be the darker shade is swaasa...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/833785a7.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/24db6f78.jpg


as far as the blade, it is coming on right along, about three quarters done with gangya, and am glad it's not as bad as i thought it was when i got it...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/5f60585a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/7a0d0988.jpg

this must've been so beautiful on its heyday. i know i mentioned at the beginning of my post that i just recently came across with this kalis, but the truth is, i've had this specific kalis in my crosshair for almost a year and a half. definitely this is gonna be labor of love...

Look good already!

I have seen older kris with silver inlay before - wished I owned one. :(

Going to need a lot of polishing.

I think this an older kris blade, and I agree that the pommel has swassa on it. Keep up the good work..............

yo jose, yeah it's pitted where the rust accumulated, but i kinda expected that. my main concern was the rust eating right thru the thinner part like the pointy part of the gangya but fortunately it didn't.

question tho: any suggestion on how to polish this part? i'm using a nut picker to pick on the remaining crust.

What do you mean by polish, Ron ?
Remove the pits ?

Nice pickin' . :D

hi rick,
basically just to smooth-en the pitted area.

1. keep picking (not your nose though :D )

2. what I mean by polish is using the different types of sandpaper,hard to soft.

We can email if you need more info...... :)

well, so much for winter project! i got so obsessed with this kris
that i just have to see the end result.
first the scabbard:
my first thought was repairing it to the point were every crack is
puttied, but as i put it together and i begun to see her true form, i
decided to leave some of her more obvious flaws as it added character
to her complete form.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/e098118e.jpg

one of the biggest chips that was missing was the right below the
crosspiece. patching it would've been redundant since there were
obviously other parts that were missing ( a couple of nails and nail
holes on the band) that i have no idea what their purposes were.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/ddc908be.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/f04be672.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/93be472c.jpg

as far as the band is concerned, i just tried to straightened it out
as much as i can by using a ball peen hammer and long nose pliers
since it was really thin and didn't wanna risk breaking a piece.. i
wanted to preserve the beautiful okir that's on it. to clean this part
i just used mild dish soap and warm water, then a coat of wax to
retain the patina. as for the rest of the scabbard, my original plan
was to re-stain it but decided to leave it as it is. so again, dish
soap and warm water was all i used, and liberally rubbed it with
renaissance wax. the nicks and scratches on it really added some
serious character:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/e326b63f.jpg

now on the sword:
this is indeed one of the most beautiful kris i've ever handled.
whoever was the original owner must've been a very influential person!
every part of it was lavished to the hilt! to start of with the
handle. early on, i noticed swaasa on the pommel. notice how the beak
on the kakatua was accentuated with swaasa, and so were the
rectangular portion on each side and a strip running from the beak to
the tail.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/20f1f917.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/14a1d064.jpg

i can see excellent okir bands on the handle, and after cleaning it
up, her true beauty popped out. not only was it meticulously put
together it also appeared that it has swaasa on it, alternated with
silver filigreed band, creating a beautiful contrast:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/c3ed4568.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/00408c3e.jpg

here's the view of the full handle. i don't think there was a band between the last ring and the pommel, but if there was, it disappeared a while back since the exposed wood looks like it has some age on it:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/258b5703.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/ed3a2cc2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/20f1f917.jpg

the blade was the worst part, especially around gangya area, as it was
caked with rust. one of my biggest concern was around the greneng. i
was worried that since it's one of the thinnest part, the rust
would've ate through it, but luckily it didn't. although it was
pitted, it was intact. as one can see, it's a simple design, common
for her age.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/83f3fd91.jpg

as far as the katik, it was heavily corroded. luckily it wasn't deep
enough to ruin anything, except for the obvious pits (the reddish tint is a reflection of my shirt):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/52580f06.jpg

there was really no sense in smoothing the pitted area, since i would
have to use some serious power tool to smoothen the area, so i just
left it as it is:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/fd2fa4dd.jpg

notice the inlays. most of the stars were intact. what was missing
were most of the two linear inlays that originally run along the
length of the blade, ending on the naga's head. fortunately, six of
the star inlays remained by the tip accentuating it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/0d46eeb9.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/f045eb86.jpg

overall, it wasn't as bad as i originally thought. main thing is i got
it somewhat close to what it was during her glory day! here she is
with her "younger" contemporaries

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/51bae831.jpg

full views

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/fb2f9204.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/445fe651.jpg

close up of the blades:
top kris
22" length
1 3/8" wide

middle kris:
19" length
5/8" width

bottom kris:
20 1/2" length
1 1/4" width

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...r/4399962c.jpg]

and here she is. i hope that you all enjoyed it!
comments/critique are welcome :) :) :)

Very nice and a good job! I agree with you by the blade, I think there is not more possible, polish out the pitting isn't possible witout ruin the blade. But I personally would do more by the sheat, real patina you can't destroy by cleaning the wood with steel-wool, this is my experience by sheats from indonesian keris and I also would fill out the missing wood at the crosspiece.
But again, a very niece outcome and a beautiful kris.

sajen

Excellent work brah!
I think you made a good stopping point at leaving the pitted area as it is, not smoothing it out. It would've made it a lot thinner and possibly ruining it.
Congrats.

Freakin' gorgeous !
You did just enough, perfect !

can't believe my eyes ... nice job :)

Beautiful work Ron and a nice old kris. I would think that it did indeed once have one more band of some sort between the hilt and the pommel and if you did anything else you might consider replacing that for continuity's sake. I'd bet that Jose could fashion something appropriate for you there. :)
I would also consider maybe some silver headed nails to fill those hole around the base of the pommel. :shrug: :)

Amazing skill... great work! :D

thanks all!
i've been contemplating on adding that collar, david, reason why i didn't attached the pommel permanently yet. yeah, you're right, that it prolly had a collar or maybe a ring at one point, but my assumption is that, it has to be fairly thin. if you noticed at the bottom of the pommel where the nails or pins were placed, it's in symmetrical positions so again, i'm assuming it was meant to show. a collar has to be fairly low in order for it to show, so a ring might be a logical choice. will talk to show this to batara the next time we meet..
going back to the nails or pins, it looks like where they were suppose to anchor on the hilt has eroded real bad, so if anything, a pinhead to cover would prolly be appropriate. yeah, lot of possibilities...
sajen, i'm pretty sure the scabbard is original with the kris, and with the kris being in a not so perfect condition (with the pittings), i reckon leaving the scabbard in its imperfect state would match the sword... (plus filling out the missing piece takes a lot of work :o :D )...