A keris for comment

[Rick]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

I am talking nominal layers, not finished layers, because we lose layers of material during welding, forging & cold work.

So 'nominal' is referring to the original forging of the 'blank' (I've forgotten the term for it) , which is later finished into a complete keris; correct?

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes Rick, it works like this, let's say you start with 2 pieces of iron & one piece of nickel, so you put the nickel in between the 2 bits of iron & then you take the weld, OK, then bend that iron + nickel sandwich in two, weld again = 2 layers of nickel, & again = 4 layers, & again = 8 layers, & again =16, again = 32, again = 64, again = 128 layers of nickel.

Forge out that billet with 128 layers, cut it in half, make a sandwich of two pieces of pamor & steel in between, take the weld, then forge to approximate shape and carve inyo a keris.

However --- every time you heat up the material and forge or weld, you lose material through flaking, so these layers are imaginary, thus they are nominal layers, as if you had lost nothing, but the bottom line is that you start with one layer (or whatever), and the more you forge & weld, the thinner that layer (or layers) gets.

Ngulit (or kulit) semangka (or semongko) is the same pamor as wos (or beras) wutah, the only difference is the number & width of the bands of contrasting material.

[Marcokeris]

thanks for the explanation Alan

[A. G. Maisey]

You're welcome Marco.

[blackforest1959]

this thread is the perfect example for why i am here, to learn. Thx all

[Rick]

Originally Posted by blackforest1959

this thread is the perfect example for why i am here, to learn. Thx all

Suggest you get a copy of The World of the Javanese Keris if this is your interest by Garret Solyom.

[David]

Originally Posted by Rick

Suggest you get a copy of The World of the Javanese Keris if this is your interest by Garret Solyom.

I don't disagree, but not all that easy to come by these days and when it does this relatively thin paperback runs around $100USD. Though i believe i just saw a copy going for about $60 if you google it.
There may also be some online options.

[blackforest1959]

Originally Posted by Rick

Suggest you get a copy of The World of the Javanese Keris if this is your interest by Garret Solyom.

learning by listening ;-)