Repair

[Rick]

Thank you Gentlemen for your comments and compliments deserved or not .
Accidents do happen; still I felt like a total bonehead for breaking it in the first place.

Repairing this piece was a rewarding experience in a few ways; I learned a bit by doing; I picked up some very helpful advice for future projects; and in a way repairing the wrongko was also a way of repairing the heartbreak that I felt when it broke.

You are all too kind.

Rick

[A. G. Maisey]

Yeah Rick, the final job looks like its come up OK, and with the finish you describe, the original break is probably not obvious in the hand.

When you say "ordinary woodworking glue", exactly what is that in your part of the world?

Jason, I've never heard of urushi lacquer, and it does sound like great stuff, but I doubt that it would be suitable for use on keris parts. The better wrongkos are finished with a french polish, or in the case of some woods, no sealant at all, just a burnished finish. This lacquer would not give a finish that would look correct.

When I mentioned "artist's colour", I was talking about the dry powdered pigment, not oil paints. You can mix these pigments with epoxies and do some wonderful fake-up work.

Here is link that will tell you what Plastibond is:-

http://trade.selleys.com.au/ItemDisplay.aspx?ItemID=68

its a while since I bought any, and it used to come in one form only, but now it looks like they produce two types. Its great stuff. I've used it for all sorts of things, including the bedding of rifle actions.

It is most definitely not anything like plastic wood, which I reckon should be taken off the market. Its horrible stuff.

As Jason says, you can mix sawdust with epoxy resins, and often get a pretty fair finish,if I use sawdust, I prefer to mix a trial batch, see how it dries, and then adjust for final variance by using pigment mixed with the sawdust.

You can also mix iron filings with epoxy to hide holes in metal. This is one of the great traps with old keris in the Javanese markets---they'll fill holes in blades in places where there should not be holes, and after acid treatment and warangan, you won't find where that fill is, unless you expect it, and go over the blade with a loupe.

One of our members has a wrongko that is the most brilliant repair job I have ever seen. This wrongko was total, total trash before it was repaired, but for several reasons we decided to see if a satisfactory repair could be achieved. It was done by the man whom I consider to be the best tukang wrongko currently working in Solo, and the job he did was wonderful. Possibly our member may feel inclined to show a photo or two of this wrongko, if he reads this.

[Jason Anstey]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Jason, I've never heard of urushi lacquer, and it does sound like great stuff, but I doubt that it would be suitable for use on keris parts. The better wrongkos are finished with a french polish, or in the case of some woods, no sealant at all, just a burnished finish. This lacquer would not give a finish that would look correct.

.

French polish is probably the closest equivalent to Urushi, and can have a flat finish or the highly prized gloss that takes around 80 micro fine coates and is then polished so I am pretty sure that you would achieve exactly the finish required by using different methods.

Urushi is also used as a filler my mixing with various substance ranging from clay and charcoal to gold filings.

There is also a reed that is used for burnishing called Tokusa and is used with Deer horn powder to get a good burnished finish.

To get even more traditional Pine Resin heated and mixed with natane oil will make a glue.

In my opinion it is always good to use the tradition methods for such repairs so the Urushi may not be appropriate although I am pretty sure that it was or still is used in crafts from SE Asia but would go by another name, what that is I don't know.

Merry Christmas to you all

Jason

[Rick]

Hi Alan,
I used Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Glue.
We used a fair amount of this stuff when I worked in the trades.
Usually the wood surrounding the repair will break before the glue fails.
Cleans up with water.

Rick

[A. G. Maisey]

Thanks Rick.

We don't have Elmers here. I googleized it, but I cannot see what category of glue it is. Probably our most popular all-purpose wood glue is Selleys Aquadhere, which is a PVA glue; a rather thick, white, waterproof liquid.Will adhere without clamping, but must be clamped to achieve a strong bond.Dries clear.I don't know---maybe Elmers will give a strong bond without clamping. Anyway, where you've used it, it is unlikely to be subjected to any great stress, so it might hang on satisfactorily.

Yes Jason, it is possible to get a finish that looks similar to french polish with other methods, and even with shellac, there are ways to get a finish that looks like a french polish, but that has not used as much time. I have a family background in fine art cabinet work, and have a small understanding of some of the tricks of the trade.

With Javanese finishes there are a number of different methods and materials used to achieve the desired finishes, including polishing with various leaves, burnt bone---which also used to be used in western finishes- and individual people can all have their own little tricks.I cannot be certain that urushi lacquer was never used in years past in Jawa, but I have never heard of it.It may well have been used in SE Asian crafts, but as far as Jawa goes,the only thing that I can think of that might be urushi lac is the original kemalo, which is a coloured lacquer used on some pendoks and mendaks. The original stuff has not been used since probably pre-WWII

The pine resin you mention could possibly be like our damar, which is a resin, and when you boil it up to prepare it, it does have a very strong pine smell. Damar mixed with various substances had a number of adhesive and filling uses in Jawa, however, I doubt that there are many people left in Central Jawa who understand how to use damar as it used to be used.

The problem that many people with an interest in keris face is to try to bring back a keris of no great value, from the edge of destruction, with available materials. Nobody is going to spend too much money , or perhaps time , on trying to traditionally restore a very ordinary keris with top value of maybe $100, and that they may have bought at a garage sale for $20.

To address this problem of economically viable, but traditionally appearing repairs we need to get a good understanding of what is available in our local hardware or artist supply store. Rick has used varnish to refinish his wrongko, and as he describes his finishing method, I'm sure it looks pretty good, close up. But Rick has a background in the application of finishes. He has the skills and experience to produce a professional job.

On the other hand, I do not. I can french polish, but to get a satisfactory french polish finish on a ladrang wrongko would take me much more time than I would be prepared to put into the job. So, if I wanted a decent finish, I would opt for a commercial gunstock finish, that can just be wiped on --- three or four coats over 3 or 4 days, total working time of maybe an hour.

When I was a kid I spent untold hours restoring keris. It was my ongoing hobby over a number of years. I would buy any old keris at all that I came across, and then bring it back to something that looked pretty good. At age 30 I owned more than 3000 keris, and the majority of these keris had had restoration work of some kind done on them by me.Believe me, there are a lot of ways you can get something to look as if it came straight out of SE Asia, without spending too much time, or too much money on it.

[Jason Anstey]

for those interested here are a couple examples of Urushi to better describe what i am talking about.

This one is in mid coates on Malley root for a valve amp that I am building. I am using clear urushi which is actually a dark brown colour, but application are so fine that is doesnt stain the wood.

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THe next picture shows a finished shakuhachi made a bamboo.



with these methods the urushi is applied by using a small square of silk or other lint free cloth, put a couple of cotton balls in the middle and fold up the corners of the silk, twist and tap to form a small pad. Apply a small amount of urushi in small circles with a small amount of pressure, similar to french polishing, you then wipe very lightly in direction if the grain.

There a numerous procedures to go through but this will give you a general idea.

Cheers

[David]

Thanks Jason. Do you play the shakuhachi. Not the easiest of wind instruments to play.