Kai, I usually hold the hilt in my hand, this way you can feel how hot its getting. If you use a candle or a small kerosene lamp there is in fact very little radiated heat. I'm not as cautious as I advise others to be, I use a propane torch held in a vice, and pass the blade through the flame, even doing it this way and holding the hilt in my bare hand, there is very little radiated heat. I don't like to isolate myself from the hilt and the blade by using gloves, if you can feel them you know exactly how much heat is going into the keris, and where it is going.
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