Wooden hilt cup and composite wood hilt

A. G. Maisey · Yesterday, 12:17 AM

Adam, what I believe I can see at the bottom end of that hilt is a fairly common repair for a cracked hilt, the hilt hole is enlarged, the hilt is compressed to close the cracks, the insert is put in place with a strong adhesive. In the case of your hilt, it appears that the insert has been run through the wooden cup as well.

If a the upper part of a hilt is also badly cracked, or there is a hole through it, usually caused by careless drilling of the tang hole, that insert will be run all the way through the hilt and reshaped into correct form. I suspect something like this could have been done with your hilt.

I note that you are wearing an armour glove. I am aware that some people do wear these when using sharp tools, however, I personally find that I have much better control of power tools & much better feel of traditional manual tools without the glove. Going back to when I was doing a lot of custom knife work there was a bit of a craze for makers to wear these gloves, & at the time it seemed like a good idea, so I gave it a try. I slipped up so many times when using even a single glove that I finally dumped those expensive gloves in the rubbish bin.

adamb · Yesterday, 08:34 AM

Sorry Alan, I hope this image is a bit clearer now; the coloured areas in the schematic illustration show the parts of the keris hilt that seem to be comprised of different materials to the richly grained wood (left blank in the schematic). Seems like an extraordinary amount of effort to patch up a damaged hilt.

Regarding the glove (actually very cheap from Bunnings), until I develop a higher level of skill in the use of the very sharp knife I used to scrape away the tough glue, I prefer to keep all my fingers intact! But I appreciate the advice, thank you.

A. G. Maisey · Yesterday, 09:50 AM

Thanks for those pics Adam, yes, the various materials used are now quite clear, and you're dead right, it would have been a lot of work, but if one is a skilled worker in wood, such a job would not be at all difficult. For example, my own father was expert in the art of marquetry, and for him, a job like this would be no effort at all. On the other hand, for me it would be very difficult.

If a new hilt is not able to be obtained, the repair of the old hilt is necessary, but in my experience, such a repair would never be done in the areas of SE Asia with which I am familiar.

My opinion is that this hilt was repaired outside the culture of origin of the keris.

I'm pleased to hear that something has come down in price, those gloves were really very expensive back in the 1980's. I do not believe I gave any advice in respect of the use of those gloves in combination with wood working tools, I only related my own experience with them.

Yesterday, 08:34 AM	#2
adamb Member Join Date: Oct 2024 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 29	Sorry Alan, I hope this image is a bit clearer now; the coloured areas in the schematic illustration show the parts of the keris hilt that seem to be comprised of different materials to the richly grained wood (left blank in the schematic). Seems like an extraordinary amount of effort to patch up a damaged hilt. Regarding the glove (actually very cheap from Bunnings), until I develop a higher level of skill in the use of the very sharp knife I used to scrape away the tough glue, I prefer to keep all my fingers intact! But I appreciate the advice, thank you. Attached Images

Yesterday, 12:17 AM	#1
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,043	Adam, what I believe I can see at the bottom end of that hilt is a fairly common repair for a cracked hilt, the hilt hole is enlarged, the hilt is compressed to close the cracks, the insert is put in place with a strong adhesive. In the case of your hilt, it appears that the insert has been run through the wooden cup as well. If a the upper part of a hilt is also badly cracked, or there is a hole through it, usually caused by careless drilling of the tang hole, that insert will be run all the way through the hilt and reshaped into correct form. I suspect something like this could have been done with your hilt. I note that you are wearing an armour glove. I am aware that some people do wear these when using sharp tools, however, I personally find that I have much better control of power tools & much better feel of traditional manual tools without the glove. Going back to when I was doing a lot of custom knife work there was a bit of a craze for makers to wear these gloves, & at the time it seemed like a good idea, so I gave it a try. I slipped up so many times when using even a single glove that I finally dumped those expensive gloves in the rubbish bin.

Yesterday, 09:50 AM	#3
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,043	Thanks for those pics Adam, yes, the various materials used are now quite clear, and you're dead right, it would have been a lot of work, but if one is a skilled worker in wood, such a job would not be at all difficult. For example, my own father was expert in the art of marquetry, and for him, a job like this would be no effort at all. On the other hand, for me it would be very difficult. If a new hilt is not able to be obtained, the repair of the old hilt is necessary, but in my experience, such a repair would never be done in the areas of SE Asia with which I am familiar. My opinion is that this hilt was repaired outside the culture of origin of the keris. I'm pleased to hear that something has come down in price, those gloves were really very expensive back in the 1980's. I do not believe I gave any advice in respect of the use of those gloves in combination with wood working tools, I only related my own experience with them.