new member, old keris

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes, the cleaning process will expose any material that does not have a tight grain. That's certain. If the material is good quality and the grain in the iron is tight cleaning only removes the rust and dirt. Often cleaning an old keris will result in the keris coming out of the cleaning solution --- pineapple juice, lime juice, citric acid, vinegar --- whatever --- looking as if it has just been stained. But you cannot compensate for poor quality material. If you have any doubts about the quality of material in a blade it is safer to clean it mechanically --- stones, wet & dry paper --- and then just lightly etch with vinegar or similar.

Balinese keris are not cleaned in the same way as Javanese keris, they are polished clean with sand, or with ground up lime stone. We can achieve the same finish with wet & dry paper.

Old keris that have been out of Jawa for a long time do very often have a smooth finish to the blade.

[Sajen]

Before cleaning and etching the blade I would look for a proper dress. A better mendak and a scabbard would be my first step. The blade don't show active corrosion so a cleaning will have time.

Regards,

Detlef

[PeterP]

Thanx again for your comments. As mr. Maisey draws our attention to certain aspects of this keris (the form of the gonjo and the ron dha, and the lack of erosion), could somebody explain me the implication of these features. I'm a novice concerning the finer points of keris knowledge so any help would be appreciated.
Two more additional pictures, one of the other side of the elephants head in which you can see the top layer extending beyond the head, and one from the top of the gonjo