Donny, the core of the blade is put in place after the pamor has been made:- look at a keris blade, its a laminated blade, the pamor on the outside of a steel core. All the folding and welding is intended to remove carbon and any other impurities from the material, but the steel core is only welded once, when it is placed between the layers of pamor. The Brojoguno trick is no trick at all, really. If you make the point substantial, with a decent cross section, and it is properly hardened, any pointed tool will do the coin piercing trick. What makes it impressive is that most old keris in Jawa have lost their original form, they have been so eaten by time excessive cleaning that all the hardness and most of the substance has gone from the blade. If you see a 16th or 17th century keris that is still in original condition you will see a very strong, robust powerful blade that would easily pierce light metal.
If you give a smith decent material, and he has even a little bit of understanding of heat treatment, it is no trick at all for him to produce a pointed blade that will pierce light metal. In pre-industrial societies smiths were looked upon as magicians. In Jawa they were associated with the concept of death and rebirth, they could handle fire and iron and commune with the unseen forces. Even today a lot of technologically challenged people in Jawa regard smiths as people who can work some sort of magic. In fact, there is no magic involved in any of this, its plain common sense + a little bit knowledge + a lot of skill.
Yes, Panembahan Harjonegoro was the prime shaker and mover in the keris revival, he was actually the man behind a lot of other, possibly better known men. His family came from near Boyolali, they were wealthy, powerful people, he went to school with Pakubuwana XII and they were lifelong friends. He was very well connected in upper level Indonesian society, Bung Karno was his personal friend and actually designed part of his house in Jln. Kratonan in Solo. He himself was very wealthy, and his factory produced probably the highest quality batik in Indonesia. The Karaton Surakarta benefited greatly from his benevolence.
Joko was an absolutely great leader of Solo. I doubt if anybody would ever say a bad word of him. How many Lord Mayors drive crappy old cars that wouldn't be out of place on a scrap heap? I personally am sorry to see him go from Solo, but Jakarta is a problem, and if anybody can help fix that problem just a little bit it is Joko Widodo (Jokowi). So yes, Solo leadership has changed, but I would have greater confidence in seeing a keris museum at Sriwedari if the undertaking had been given by Joko.
However, having said that, I'd also like to put on record that I personally do not support the idea of keris museums and in fact any public exhibition of keris. Those who engage in this folly are acting contrary to the spirit that should be enshrined in this Javanese icon. Once you put a keris on public exhibition what you have achieved is to empty it. It is no longer a keris, just a piece of metal.
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