Yep, a lot of work in making a keris.
I've made about half a dozen, all of them made with traditional hand tools, no electric tools. Before Empu Suparman took me under his wing & taught me, I'd already made a couple, but they were pretty rough. The first one I made under Empu Suparman's tuition took me 16 days of cold work & about one & a half days of forge work with the help of two strikers.
The longest time it took me was 49 man days of 8 to 10 hours each, that was about 9 days of forge work, 3 men working for 8 hours a day for 3 days, then there was around 40+ days of cold work, again , all traditional tools.
It used to take Empu Suparman about 14 days of cold work to make straight random pamor keris. Empu Suparman also used traditional hand tools, no electric tools.
Virtually everybody now uses electric tools, and I think most makers take about a week to do the cold work.
In GP's three videos we can see Bandi in the first, & Ketut Mudra in the third, I've known both these men for more than 40 years. Both are serious & highly regarded makers. Ketut Mudra is perhaps the only living Pande Keris who knows the old mantras. I also knew Pak Ketut's father, Mangku Pande Made Wija.
Making a keris is pretty serious business, & virtually all keris now are made for the local market.
If one is prepared to pay & can make the right connections, it is still possible to have a keris made that has the potential to become a family pusaka.
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