Keris stuck in sheath! Help?

A. G. Maisey · 26th January 2010, 09:36 PM

That sounds like a rational, workable solution, Kai Wee.

Aircon systems and heating systems do produce very dry air, and we find dry air in places like Utah and Arizona. I've had reports of cracked hilts and cracked wrongkos from several places across the world where it is obvious that the cracking has been caused by dry air.The air in planes is dry. Even when wood is properly cured you could get a drop in its moisture content after it has been in any of these environments for a while, with the consequent shrinkage.

One person I know put the keris into a a greenhouse for a couple of days, along with the plants, and it permitted removal of the blade.

Going back into the 1950's and the birth of computers, I was working in a data processing facility that used Hollerith punched cards to capture data and process it. The cards had holes punched in them by operators, and these holes represented information that could be read and printed onto paper by machines. We had problems with distortion of the cards when the atmosphere was too dry, so the room where the operators worked who punched the data into the cards, was kept at a constant humidity in order to prevent this distortion.

Same principle with wood, which is a cellulose material, the same as cardboard:- varying moisture content will alter the shape of the material.

This is also the reason why custom knifemakers will not guarantee natural materials.

I have never lived in a very dry climate, and I have never lived in an airconditioned nor internally heated environment. The methods I have shown for removal of stuck blades are what I have used for longer than I can remember, and for me, they have always worked perfectly. However, Kai Wee's recommendation does make sense.

26th January 2010, 09:36 PM	#5
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,991	That sounds like a rational, workable solution, Kai Wee. Aircon systems and heating systems do produce very dry air, and we find dry air in places like Utah and Arizona. I've had reports of cracked hilts and cracked wrongkos from several places across the world where it is obvious that the cracking has been caused by dry air.The air in planes is dry. Even when wood is properly cured you could get a drop in its moisture content after it has been in any of these environments for a while, with the consequent shrinkage. One person I know put the keris into a a greenhouse for a couple of days, along with the plants, and it permitted removal of the blade. Going back into the 1950's and the birth of computers, I was working in a data processing facility that used Hollerith punched cards to capture data and process it. The cards had holes punched in them by operators, and these holes represented information that could be read and printed onto paper by machines. We had problems with distortion of the cards when the atmosphere was too dry, so the room where the operators worked who punched the data into the cards, was kept at a constant humidity in order to prevent this distortion. Same principle with wood, which is a cellulose material, the same as cardboard:- varying moisture content will alter the shape of the material. This is also the reason why custom knifemakers will not guarantee natural materials. I have never lived in a very dry climate, and I have never lived in an airconditioned nor internally heated environment. The methods I have shown for removal of stuck blades are what I have used for longer than I can remember, and for me, they have always worked perfectly. However, Kai Wee's recommendation does make sense.