Planning to make a wrongko
 

Hi Keris friends! It has been some time since I last had the honour of learning from you all in this forum, concerning my two kerisses. I hope you are all still well. I myself have been quite busy, and I am happy to report that I have just finished an article on my Java keris, this time to submit to the quarterly newsletter of my firearms and edged weapons collector's society. This time I did it in my home language, Afrikaans, and that is why I cannot share it with you - although, if one of you can manage the Afrikaans, please request a copy if you want. I would be very willing to have a knowledgeable person scrutinise it! (There's no keris boffin where I live!)

You might recall that I reported that the scabbard of my second keris (the Bugis) was incomplete. I actually only have the original 1850's centre part. I am planning to make the wrongko myself, and I will have to make the buntut as well. There's no other way open for me, because I don't think I will ever, in this country, be able to get hold of original (spare) parts for a Bugis scabbard.
I don't have modern specialist tools for the job, but then, the empu's didn't have specialist tools either! I might just be able to do the job tolerably well. I plan to use four layers of fine quality wood for the wrongko. One of the reasons for this is that it is never my purpose to have the wrongko pose as a genuine part, when viewed by persons without the knowledge that I had made it. The lamination will indicate that it is a recent home-built part, and it might also be a reflection of the laminated nature of the blade that it protects. Part of my plan is that I do not in any way alter the original centre piece. I want to attach the new wrongko and buntut in such a way that the centre piece is unharmed. I have already drawn up a pattern (template) of a typical Bugis scabbard outline with its wrongko.
Please be so kind as to indicate whether you support my plan, and offer me such advice that I might need for the job at hand. I can hardly wait to get started.
Regards, Johan

Not receiving a single reply to my request for guidance is a bit of a disappointment, but I am still confident this website is the best place to get keris advice. (I do admit I had the fleeting suspicion that no-one is answering because the notion of a collector planning to make a scabbard himself is to venture into some keris no-go area...! Now I'm sure there's no such problem.)

I am struggling with the first steps in making my Bugis Riau keris scabbard. I have had second thoughts about using the existing antique gandar. It will be easier to fit a new home-made gandar to the home-made wrongko. Perhaps you will agree that a totally home-made wrongko, gandar and buntut is better than to try to incorporate an antique gandar into a home-made scabbard?
At this stage the wrongko is roughly cut out to shape, and the opening has been sculpted to accept the blade as perfectly as I can make it.

I have some questions, if you all will be so kind as to offer advice:
1) I have pictures of a Bugis keris scabbard, that I have used to guide me, but the finer details are not very clear. How do I engrave the wrongko? The only real feature that I see is the groove that runs up each side just off- centre. Besides those grooves, are the remainder of the sides quite flat?
2) I see most Bugis buntuts are shaped like an upside-down little hat with a rim. Will it be correct if I do the new one like that also? Or may I leave out the "rim"?
3) Lastly, do I go for woods with contrasting colour, or will it be more correct to use one kind of dark wood throughout? (The nearly completed wrongko is a dark mahogany.)
I am looking forward to hearing your kind advice! Thank you.

Johan, the reason nobody has made comment might be because nobody has anything useful to say.

I have made wrongkos, both gambar (top part) and gandar (long bottom part). I did this 50 or so years ago, my products were near enough to the real thing, and probably could not be picked from a job that had been done by a Javanese or Malay maker. However, I always had genuine wrongkos to copy, and I have had wood carving skills from a very young age. For a long time I made rifle stocks, both for myself, and to order.

Tools are not really any sort of problem, conventional chisels, small sharp knives, various scrapers --- usually purpose made from thin steel cut to shape --- sand paper, You cannot make a gandar without a joint unless you have the specialist tool for this, called a segrek, and there is another specialist tool that is like a curved arrow-head sharpened on the edges that is used inside the mouth of the gambar. However, for the 'arrow head' tool you can improvise with chisels, and for the gandar you simply make it in two halves and glue together.

I personally don't like the lamination idea. To my mind it is an insult to the keris itself ( the keris is really only the blade, all dress can be regarded in much the same way as a man's clothes), non-traditional and garish. I do understand your reasoning for using laminated material, but again, from my perspective this line of reasoning is totally irrelevant. If your finished product is good it will enhance the keris, if it is not good it will be replaced at some time in the future. Whether it was made in South Africa or in Jawa or wherever doesn't really matter. My opinion only, and may not be the opinion of some other western based collectors.

You need to make the wrongko so that the pesi is centered above the middle of the gandar. That is ideal, but even wrongkos made in country of origin frequently do not achieve this.

I do not understand what you mean by "engrave the wrongko".

The sides of the Bugis wrongkos that I have seen usually have a very gentle concave surface from the vertical groove towards the back, the surface of the wrongko in front of the groove is curved to blend into the rounded front. The groove itself seems to echo the position of the line of the back of the gandar on a lot of wrongkos.

I'm not particularly interested in Bugis keris, and there are a lot of people who are more familiar than I am with the details of Bugis keris dress, but what I can say is this:- I have a number of Bugis keris and the buntuts all vary a bit. I doubt very much that there is a universal standard for the buntut on a Bugis wrongko,if you have an example, copy it. The problem I used to find with buntuts was getting a neat joint, a butt joint is useless, you need to make a tongue on the end of the gandar and inlet it into the buntut, bit like a mortice & tenon joint but ovoid.

But if you have a usable gandar why not use it? I would.

The better Bugis wrongkos normally use a middling hard wood with strong chatoyancy. You probably will not be able to get anything like this, and for a beginning carver, soft wood is a lot easier to handle than hard wood. Most mahoganies carve well, stay with what you have already started.

I cannot disagree with anything Alan has said here and agree that people probably had not responded to you since there wasn't much they felt the could say.
I will say that illustrations would be very helpful to instigate discussion here, either with photographs of sarungs you are thinking of emulating or drawings or initial photographs of the sheath you are actually creating.
The stem of the sarung that came with this keris (that you show in another thread) is fairly useless and not of any particular value as is, so i agree with Alan that you might as well make use of it when constructing your new sheath.
I would suggest that you spend quite a lot of time looking at photos from different angles on Bugis style sheaths. This is especially important if you do not have an example in hand if you would like to get the porportions and nuances as close to acceptable as possible. Remember that the Bugis are not limited to one small area of Indonesia and their sheath styles do have subtle differences as you move from one area to another.
If you start posting images of your project i would image you will get more feedback as you progress. ;)

Johan, I just had a look at the gandar that David mentioned.

It appears to have lost the tongues at the top for attachment to the gambar.

To fix this problem you make a couple tongues out of bambu , inlet the inside of the gandar and glue the new tongues in with 5 minute Araldite. You use bambu because you can make the tongues as thin as you need and there is still strength in the material. Don't forget to score the inletting and the tongue to improve adherence of glue.

On this old gandar it is obvious that the buntut was not attached by use of a tenon on the end of the gandar, but I believe you will find a mortice where a tenon from the buntut fitted into the gandar.

If you have acacia woods available in South Africa, you might find that you can match colour and grain approximately with that material. If not, don't worry about it, finish the one you've started on.

To me a good Bugis wrongko should have the gambar made from kemuning and the gandar from angsana like this specimen.

Yes Jean true, but you are a connoisseur, our friend Johan is a beginning wood carver with no experience of keris, apart from which, I will stand naked on the Town Hall Steps playing a trumpet if he can source quality exotic woods such as kemuning and angsana in the location where he lives.

At this point I would most gently suggest that whatever he thinks is OK is what he should use.

I can tell you from long, hard experience that working with woods such as the ones in your presented example is not something for beginners, woods like this require a lot of skill and a touch of magic to get to required form and finish.

I have read everything you all have written here, with great appreciation. Your comments deserve more attention than I can give it with one reading, so I will ruminate on them so as to be able to further decide on the steps to take in my woodworking project. Yes, Alan, my term "engrave" was very poorly chosen; I should have written "shape" or "sculpt" or better still, "carve".

I have also mistakenly used the word wrongko for the top part of the scabbard. Of course, the entire scabbard is warangka = wrangka = wrongko. I note that Alan uses "gambar" for the top part. This points to another area where I might brush up on my sometimes faulty terminology. Dredging up my voluminous keris notes, I see that I have "gambar" as a Javanese word as well as an Indonesian word, meaning picture or illustration.

Some writers equate the Malayan "sampir" with "wrangka". If by this, reference is made to the boat which the top part of the scabbard is supposed to represent, then this might contribute to misunderstanding. Popular books on the keris seem not to use "gambar" often, but if this is the strictly correct usage for the top part, then that is what I also want to use.

Concerning the boat representation, some writers compare the gambar with the traditional Pattani fishing boat of old, others just call it Chinese. And others simply say it points to the SEA communities as a seafaring people.

Sometimes I find it hard to put my keris notes down...

Johan, I would suggest if I may that you do not get too involved with terminology. I tend to use Javanese terms when I do not use English, and other terms can apply in each different keris bearing society. It doesn't really matter what you call any of the wrongko parts as long as we all understand what is meant. Speaking only for myself, I'd be perfectly happy to see everybody using only English. Words are used to transfer ideas and the English language is a very good tool for this purpose.

The entire scabbard can be correctly referred to as wrongko (warangka), or just the top cross section (gambar) can be referred to as wrongko. It is not a good idea to argue with anybody about what is and is not correct.

I have a deep and abiding dislike of this endless discussion involving names and classifications in the absence of attached meanings. To my mind the whole collector discussion on keris is often slanted in entirely the wrong direction.

As for that business about wrongkos being inspired by boats and ships, well, I guess anybody can believe what they will.

Replying to Alan only, for the moment, I think I might understand your position, however having said that, I find myself asking more questions about this very same thing. Which means that you could possibly help me understand better. Let me put my problem this way: an ardent collector of edged weapons (kerisses or some other traditional weapon), needs to delve into all available facts pertaining to his area of interest, including the history, the tradition, the terminology and the symbolism of the weapon.

Some like to delve deeper than others. Surely a study of names and classification is part of this parcel. I'm sure you do not discourage this. But then I quickly include what you yourself have added: "...and the attached meanings".

So what I think you mean is that a collector can certainly go to great lengths to study the items in his collection, but do it honestly and with due consideration for the symbolism's meaning. I had understood it to be a very good example, to wax lyrical on the boats the gambar is supposed to represent. The garuda of the Bugis keris' pistol grip is another tantalising example.

I also accept that a discussion can arguably sometimes slant in the wrong direction, but my experience does not tell me which these slants may be. I know one must not bring in commercialism here, or disguise kerisses to look older of more valuable.

Interestingly, I have purposely steered away from names and classifcation in the Afrikaans article I wrote on my Javanese keris for submission to my collector society newsletter. I refrained from using a single Javanese or Malayan name for any of the keris components. I also do not even call it a keris, but a kris. I thought it would sound strange to call the hilt an ukiran (for instance) and not meaningfully justify my use of the Javanese word.

I'm progressing with my home-made wrongko (the whole scabbard) and can soon offer a pic or two when the job does not look so disgustingly rough anymore...!

Frankly Johan, shots of your sheath in progress can be very educational for both you and the viewer (who might be considering a similar course). By the time you show us just the finished product it will be too late to add any helpful suggestions to your process. ;)

Johan, the way in which you have stated your beliefs is in my experience quite accurate when we are talking about weapon collecting in general, and the attitudes of just about every collector of anything.

Collectors classify, describe, and create records. They are usually very focused on the physical presence of the object, and when they do dig a little deeper and begin to look at the collected object in the context of the society that generated it, that further investigation always relates back to the collected object. At least, this is what I have observed during the time I have held an interest in edged weapons, currently something in excess of 60 years.

I myself did go through this stage, but by about age 20 my interest had narrowed to a focus on only the keris, with a fringe interest in other S. E. Asian weapons. By the time I was in my early forties I was pretty much focused on only the keris in Jawa and Bali, and associated honoured weaponry. Over the last thirty odd years my interest has become more and more focused on societal and cultural elements that set the keris apart from all other weapons. I can no longer be regarded as a "collector" of edged weapons. My attitudes and values have changed, in fact, I probably left actual "collecting" behind a long time ago.

I realise that my standards are not the standards, nor the desires or motivations of most people with an interest in edged weaponry, or of the keris. In this respect, I am the odd man out, not everybody else. But I would like to see more people take the time and make the effort to truly understand what they are dealing with when they begin to take an interest in the keris.

You have taken the first steps in what may or may not become an abiding interest in the keris. Perhaps this wrongko project will be the extent of your interest, you will acquire a few keris, you will do your best to classify and label them, and they will enter your collection alongside an assortment of weapons.

There is nothing wrong with any of this. It is in fact what just about all collectors of weaponry do, and our function in this Forum is to assist people just like you, who have this interest.

But this realisation does not mean that I would not like to see the occasional person take the road less traveled and start to think about what might be behind the physical object that he can hold in his hands.

This is the reason I often throw in off the cuff remarks that might hopefully cause somebody, once in a while, to realise that what he thinks is so, and what many people will tell him is so, is in fact about as wrong as it can be.

Alan,
This fellow came to mind while reading your post.
Of course it's mostly about the forging; but I guess my point is that for Lemmy (iirc) this was his first kris.
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5270

I'd forgotten that Rick.

You must have a mind like a steel trap.

I've never been able to work well from pictures, whatever I was making, either with wood or metal, I've needed an example. I reckon that this is what gives away the recent Indian creations, the makers work from pictures, they don't have examples of whatever it is they're trying to make.

Albeit a somewhat corroded and old one, Alan. ;)

Lemmy made some interesting posts.

I saw a bit of a parallel with our aspiring scabbard maker.:)

Yeah, I speed read the text and as soon as I get a chance I'll go back and read it properly.

Looks like there was some good stuff in it.

In reply to David, let me see if I can post a pic or two of my incomplete project. Looks awful in this unkempt state! I promise it will look better after much elbow grease and TLC. Of course, as always, I welcome helpful hints and even flak. You will see I opted to go for the whole wrongko and not just the gambar and buntut.

In reply to Alan, I've always wondered: if I had the financial means to really treat myself when it comes to my edged weapons collection, would I have gone for specialisation or would I have stuck to my current mode of accumulating an interesting but varied assortment of historical weapons? I've never had enough funds to go to town as I would like, (who has??) what with kids at varsity and now grandchildren to help support. So, how such a collection, and my inclination towards it, would have ended up, I cannot tell. Your development as a young collector coincides in certain respects with mine, but the big difference is that in my locality I do not have access to keris items. The two I did fortunately get hold of, that I've reported on, came as a fluke not repeatable. Thinking back, I realise that I've owned, seen, handled, experienced such a wide variety of historical weapons of all kinds that I feel satisfied. I really believe the two extremes (going all-out in a specialised direction and accumulating a wide variety) both have their merits and appeal.

David, my files seem to be too big to attach. Let me see if I can adjust them.

I apologise if the images are poor!

Yes Johan, most people act in the way they are able to act, and that ability to act is dictated by a number of factors, most of which cannot be controlled.

The work you've done so far has got off to a good start.

Is the gandar made in two pieces and glued, or did you work out some way to inlet the blade in the absence of the specific tool used for this? If you did do it as one piece, I'd appreciate it if you let us know how.

The best glue to use for any scabbard is in my opinion Araldite, or some other two part epoxy glue. Normal woodworking glues can set up rust in a blade if they contact it, epoxy adhesives are like plastic and do not cause rust.

Thank you once again for your reply; I think we are and have been in agreement. Considering your questions, I am truly hesitant to reply. I am feeling like a Catholic parishioner having to appear before the priest and muttering: "Father, I have sinned!" Or like the time I had to do an oral in front of three Professors. The questions were all about this huge textbook on animal physiology, the contents of which I had virtually memorised. The first question took me by surprise: "Who wrote the book?"

I hereby shamefacedly admit (don't worry; I'm not too serious) that I took two pieces of teak-type wood for the gandar, marked out the outline of the blade on each of them and slowly and carefully made the required hollow with an angle grinder. Every now and then I took the blade and checked if the hollow was deep enough or had the required shape. I was quite surprised that the angle grinder idea worked so well; all it required was a firm, steady hand. I used this same technique with the gambar and it encouraged me that I could actually pull the job off satisfactorilly.

Yes, I did use wood glue; however, the Bugis keris is to be stored outside of its scabbard. (I've always had this thing about storing edged weapons outside of their scabbards.) I once made a storage case for a pristine Luger pistol, using wood glue, and found to my dismay that a light sheen of fine rust had developed within a week. Happily there was no lasting damage and after I aired the box for a few weeks, the problem never came back.

My biggest challenge lies ahead: bringing about the proper dimensions to the gambar. I'm still poring over your description: "a very gentle concave surface from the vertical groove towards the back, the surface of the wrongko in front of the groove is curved to blend into the rounded front". As David put it: "...to make the proportions and nuances as close to acceptable as possible". I must search images taken at an angle, so I can view these necessary nuances. I thank you all once again for your comments.

Johan, there is nothing at all wrong with a gandar made in two pieces and glued down the sides. It is a quite legitimate way to make a gandar. Yes, one piece , no glue is better, but then again, a complete scabbard, gandar + gambar from a single piece of wood with the wood grain optimised is better again. I doubt that there is anybody working in Jawa now who can do this satisfactorily.

You are very wise with your storage of blades outside scabbards. I've preached this for years. Not many people listen to me. Its more fun to have a "battle-ready , razor sharp weapon to end life" (this is an actual quote from correspondence) hanging on the wall.

I actually use a plastic sleeve over my blades, after oiling. Keris kept in this way have gone for years with no attention at all, and have not shown a skerrick of rust.

I regret I cannot approve of the use of electric tools in fine work, either wood or metal.

Yes, I know:- I'm a dinosaur.

The noise alone interferes with the active meditation that any sort of work of this type should engender. As one of my mentors once said of such noise: "suaranya mengganggu kebatinan aku". (if you use an online translator you'll find "suara" = "voice" but it is also used for the noise, ie "voice" of other things, bells, machinery etc.)

I have thankfully made progress with the new gandar and part of the buntut. Please see the pic. The measurements at the point of the white Parker pen are: width: 47 mm (1,85 inch); thickness: 25 mm (1,0 inch). Measurements at the point of the blue Parker: width 42 mm (1,65 inch); thickness 20 mm (0,79 inch). I give these measurements because I am requesting your kind comments, as I do not have a complete Bugis scabbard to copy from. If you think I must take off some more wood to make this gandar typical, please offer advice. The buntut will lose a few millimetres in length when I prepare it for the little flange thingy, which will stick out a bit like a rim.

When I attached the buntut to the gandar, I used a two part epoxy glue. After that hardened, I carefully drilled four holes into the buntut from the end and glued four slender wooden dowels into place. This is to hold the job as securely as I know how. Incidentaly, the original antique piece of gandar has four little pinholes too.

Now the bad news: Having come far with the gambar (you saw the previous pic), I found myself coming up against a brick wall. I knew I could not carry on with the gambar in laminated form! I should have known the four-piece lamination was a lamentably bad idea! Why it sucked so abyssmally is that when I started carving what David called the "nuances", the outer laminations caused haphazard patterns to emerge - too awful for words. So, in disgust I scrapped the gambar. Now I am searching for a nice piece of dark wood to start the gambar afresh.

I will once again make the gambar by lamination, but ONLY in two pieces glued in the centre. I'll have to find wood thick enough for this purpose. Following Alan's advice, I'll use epoxy glue for this.

I think 1.75 inch thick stock should be about right. :)

Why make the gambar in two halves Johan?

I do not understand why you would do this.

Rick, I'll first reply to Alan, then come to your suggestion.

Alan, I might have a few reasons. Firstly, I have some arthritis in my thumbs, with the result I cannot grip tools as tightly as I used to. I saw with my first failed attempt to fashion a gambar that it was my use of hand-held tools that gave me the most difficulty. Using the angle grinder to open the space for the blade in a two-piece gambar was a cinch - I found I could manage the process well enough. The fit was near perfect. (It was the extra outer laminations that caused the gambar's downfall.) I can duplicate my success in the new gambar if I could use the same technique. I recall what you wrote about the special tools the keris makers used, but in my crude workshop there's no such apparatus. I have been making do with limited means for a long time now. But perhaps that's not the only reason. Maybe it's more important for me to craft a beautiful wrongko by any means available to me, even by unconventional methods, as long as that item gives me satisfaction upon completion. I find the two-piece gambar OK in my book. I hate to perhaps sadden you by saying I don't mind shying away somewhat from the traditional way of making a gambar, but I've got to do what works for me. Now the correct dimensions: that's of utmost importance to me! I need my project to look right.

Rick, you suggest 1,75 inch stock. Thanks, but could I ask that someone who has a Bugis scabbard kindly provide a pic or two showing the gambar edge-on? That's so I can see how to shape the "ship's" "prow" and "stern". I think the prow is rounded, while the stern seems to be rather flat. (Jean posted a nice pic, and thanks, but that was in conventional view and does not show what I need to see.)

Thank you Johan for taking the time to explain your reasons for working as you do.

I understand, and sympathise with you for the difficulties you must endure in completing this project.

Hello Johan,
Can this pic of an old and traditional sampir from Sulawesi help you?
Regards

This is excellent! Thank you, Rick & Jean! What I'm seeing is a gambar that is not so exquisitely shaped than what I had imagined. The single engraved groove (both sides) running up to the top is no more than a straight line: easy to carve. I note the sides running up to the "prow" are quite flat, as are the sides running to the "stern". If this is a acceptable example of a Bugis gambar, I see no reason for me to try and sculpt something more elaborate. Actually, I'm feeling relieved to see these pics - I can go ahead with my tools and limited expertise and expect my gambar to look at least as good.

One more request, if you please: What is the maximum width of the gambar? If I may use ship terms: How wide is the boat in the centre from gunwale to gunwale? This is important for me to know.

Scouring my woodpile for material for a new gambar, I was unfortunate in that I found nothing thick enough I could use. This week I'm going to have to seek out some bits of wood from commercial sources: perhaps Burmese teak, stinkwood or walnut.

For your interest: In 1985 I fashioned buttplates for a .357 Magnum Dakota revolver from Cape buffalo horn. This sixgun is an engraved clone of the Colt Peacemaker of 1873, with a 5 3/4 inch barrel. An article about the making of these buttplates appeared in our gun magazine "Magnum" in that year. Some time afterwards I made buttplates of stinkwood for a Frontier model in .357, and also buttplates of wild olive for a 7 1/2 inch barrelled Uberti single-action. These woods, as well as the buffalo horn, are a pleasure to work with. I will say no more - this was off topic (sorry David) - and please don't think I am blowing my trumpet, I just thought recalling these past projects, in the light of my wrongko project, would be of interest to you all.

the width at that point is just shy of 1 inch, Johan. If you need any other pictures let me know.
Glad to be of assistance with your project.

Guys, it's of course nothing of great importance, yet Johan's Keris quite clearly is a Riau or Straits piece (its Gandar/Batang included) and has nothing to with Sulawesi. The sheaths shown in this thread are Sulawesi Bugis.

The Straits Sampir are boxier (wider) and could actually be easier to carve - they don't have the bulge.