Titanium in kerises - so what?

Neo · 16th March 2011, 06:07 AM

Mr. Maisey: So, keeping an open mind to all possibilities, can we say that kerises that are detected with relatively higher Titanium content are actually inferior in terms of toughness and durability when compared to those with less Titanium? Logically, the more Titanium content we can detect in a keris means the more impurity presents that prevents the blade from having a tougher microcrystaline arrangement.

Here is the thing - one of the friends I discussed with has a spectrometer device in his facility. If he is still in the playful mood he was in during the earlier discussion, we would like to play with the stuff to see the CORRELATION between metal elements and the PERCEIVED physical quality of the keris (garap, besi, etc). It would be fun to revisit the Arumbinang research one more time.

Penangsang 2.0: I have a keris that I baptized as "Kanjeng Kyai Uang Belajar". It can fly across land and ocean riding a small package called TIKI.

A. G. Maisey · 16th March 2011, 06:50 AM

No, I don't think so. I really doubt that it would make any difference at all, either for or against the quality of the material, because the amounts of titanium involved are so minute, just trace elements really. There are many other factors involved in primitive forge technology that can affect the qualities of the finished product, apart from titanium.Additionally, the range of acceptable quality for intended purpose is so wide with a keris, that there is a huge span of acceptable material.

As for spectrographic analysis, well, it might be an interesting way to pass some time, but the great Polish historical metallurgist Prof. Jerzy Piaskowski spent years and years on analysis of the material used in keris, so a lot of this sort of work has already been done.

As for correlation of garap with material,and visually perceived quality of material, if you have sufficient genuinely old keris of quality to constitute a statistically valid sample, this might be a useful exercise.

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16th March 2011, 06:07 AM	#1
Neo Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 59	Mr. Maisey: So, keeping an open mind to all possibilities, can we say that kerises that are detected with relatively higher Titanium content are actually inferior in terms of toughness and durability when compared to those with less Titanium? Logically, the more Titanium content we can detect in a keris means the more impurity presents that prevents the blade from having a tougher microcrystaline arrangement. Here is the thing - one of the friends I discussed with has a spectrometer device in his facility. If he is still in the playful mood he was in during the earlier discussion, we would like to play with the stuff to see the CORRELATION between metal elements and the PERCEIVED physical quality of the keris (garap, besi, etc). It would be fun to revisit the Arumbinang research one more time. Penangsang 2.0: I have a keris that I baptized as "Kanjeng Kyai Uang Belajar". It can fly across land and ocean riding a small package called TIKI.

16th March 2011, 06:50 AM	#2
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,991	No, I don't think so. I really doubt that it would make any difference at all, either for or against the quality of the material, because the amounts of titanium involved are so minute, just trace elements really. There are many other factors involved in primitive forge technology that can affect the qualities of the finished product, apart from titanium.Additionally, the range of acceptable quality for intended purpose is so wide with a keris, that there is a huge span of acceptable material. As for spectrographic analysis, well, it might be an interesting way to pass some time, but the great Polish historical metallurgist Prof. Jerzy Piaskowski spent years and years on analysis of the material used in keris, so a lot of this sort of work has already been done. As for correlation of garap with material,and visually perceived quality of material, if you have sufficient genuinely old keris of quality to constitute a statistically valid sample, this might be a useful exercise.