Hello Ariel,
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I always thought that the gangya/blade joint was the most important indicator of the age. The really old ones ( 18th cen) had almost straight line, relatively old ones ( late 19th to mid 20th) were noticeably angled, and new models had a one-piece construction ( with or without a scratched imitation of the joint).
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There are quite a few archaic ones with angled separation line which would be more typical for 19th c. examples; there also seem to be a few later examples with almost straight separation line. The late 19th to early 20th c. kris usually have a very pronounced/longish angle. There are indications that pieces with separate gangya have been continued to be produced, especially in the Sulu archipelago. Nowadays, I see quite a few new but artificially aged pieces with separate gangya coming out of Mindanao again...
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Does the same rule apply to non-Moro swords?
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No. Malay (and even modern repros by the Madura guys) seem to have been almost always been done with separate gangya.
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Are there any other good indicators of age?
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Hilts and grip binding can help (if original); blade size and form, too. Workmanship may also help; telling old pieces of low quality from decent 20th c. examples may pose problems though...
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Could you spell for me what exact features would differentiate a large/heavy Indonesian kris from a light and shortish Moro one?
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The Indonesian/Malay keris (i.e. the dagger type in its many incarnations) is not a problem; the (ethnically) Malay keris sundang (sword or large dagger) can be tough to tell apart from Moro kris though: no hard and fast rules apply - there have been several discussions touching on this issue if you turn on the search engine (Moro + Malay/Sumatra/Borneo).
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I cannot see the tang and even x-ray is not going to help here. I do not wish to break the handle.
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Repeatedly heating the blade with a candle and letting it cool down again will eventually loosen up any blade not glued with epoxy nor other modern glues... Try once or twice a day and just gently "tweak" the hilt when the blade is hot (if you don't apply excessive force, the hilt will be fine).
Regards,
Kai