Karo-Kalasan

[Roland_M]

Hello,

after restoring this nice Sumatra dagger, it became one of my favourite daggers in my collection.

According to Volz it is an old Karo-Kalasan as a dagger with a 30 cm (almost 12") long Taka-blade.

I received it in a very nasty condition, deep corrosion and active red rust.
I quickly decided, that it is worth the effort and this was a truly exhausting decision.
The blade was extraordinary hard to grind and polish, eats sandpaper like peanuts.
It took more than three weeks to grind and polish a simple shaped dagger! But the result is worth every effort.
It is a perfectly laminated shear steel with a wavy pattern a nice Hamon on one side and probably with an inserted cutting edge.
I`m really happy with my Kalsan and this was just the beginnig of a wonderful year 2017 for my collection.

I hope you enjoy the pictures and every comment is welcome.


Roland

[Kmaddock]

Hi
I am very much on the fence about cleaning antiques and I generally just remove the active rust and leave my items in the rustic condition.
However in this case I can only say I love the pattern you have exposed.

Lovely metal activity

I might even go at one of my potential wootz Tulwars now!

Thanks

Ken

[Jens Nordlunde]

Roland, you and others know that I know very little of these weapons. However, what you have done is for others to follow - congratulations of the hard work you have done.
Jens

[Sajen]

Hi crony,

since I've handled this small kalasan you know how much I like it, not for nothing I recommended it to you so I don't need to repeat it here!

But let me say that I wish to have your energy and ambition in cleaning and polishing blades like you have it.

Best regards,
Detlef

[Roland_M]

Thanks for the comments, I really like the feedback.

The most important reason to restore the blade was its condition. Absolutely no visible sign of laminations and I was just curious to see whats hidden. Even after the polishing the surface of the steel was looking like monosteel. It is quite rare to find an old blade without the tiniest flaw. This is truly a masterpiece of forging and important for my private research.

Apropos wootz, just do it, you will not regret it. I have often serious doubts during my work, destroying the patina, losing material (less than 1 gram of pure steel in this case) and more. But if you put a lot of effort in one blade and after etching you find an Indonesian Wootz blade as a pedang (no reworked Shamshir, Kilij or Tulwar), this is first almost a little disturbing but than just WOW, absolutely unrivaled!


Roland

[mariusgmioc]

Wow, that was a lot of work! Excellent result.

[Roland_M]

Originally Posted by mariusgmioc

Wow, that was a lot of work! Excellent result.

Hi Marius,

thank you and that was indeed a lot of work. Especially because the steel is very tough and difficult to grind.

The current finish is just intended for my detailed etching. I plan to create a finish with more contrast under daylight conditions later in this or next year.

I still think that Indonesian blades are underrated, compared to Japanese, Indian, Persian or Ottoman blades.


Roland

[A. G. Maisey]

This is a fine job of restoration Roland, as I am sure you already know, and have already been told by others.

However, were I you, I would not give it a topographic etch. These Indonesian blades that we are accustomed to seeing with topographic etches, and "in your face" stains were not like this when originally made. They were bright, smooth blades with just sufficient stain to see the pattern. I'd leave this blade as is.

In view of your specific interests in the technology and techniques of historic metal-work, I strongly recommend that consideration of membership of this Society would be to your advantage:-

http://hist-met.org/