Keris with elephant-headed blade.

A. G. Maisey · 15th November 2025, 12:36 AM

I thought that might have been the case when I followed the cracks.

I have repaired more than a few hilts in many different materials, my adhesive of choice is 5 minute Araldite. The joining surfaces must be absolutely clean & dry, I like to roughen the joining surfaces with cabinet paper or a sharp pointed tool before applying the adhesive & this adhesive can be tinted with artist's powder colour. Hold firmly in place by hand until the adhesive sets, before that adhesive hardens I go over the hilt using a 2x or 3x loupe & dentists picks and clean away any excess adhesive. Sharpened bambu sate sticks are also good for this purpose.

Re roughening surfaces, it is best to leave the one or two millimeters adjoining the visible edge of the crack without roughening in order to make it easier to get a tight fit of those visible edges.

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15th November 2025, 12:36 AM	#1
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,185	I thought that might have been the case when I followed the cracks. I have repaired more than a few hilts in many different materials, my adhesive of choice is 5 minute Araldite. The joining surfaces must be absolutely clean & dry, I like to roughen the joining surfaces with cabinet paper or a sharp pointed tool before applying the adhesive & this adhesive can be tinted with artist's powder colour. Hold firmly in place by hand until the adhesive sets, before that adhesive hardens I go over the hilt using a 2x or 3x loupe & dentists picks and clean away any excess adhesive. Sharpened bambu sate sticks are also good for this purpose. Re roughening surfaces, it is best to leave the one or two millimeters adjoining the visible edge of the crack without roughening in order to make it easier to get a tight fit of those visible edges.