Nagasasra luk 11

[satsujinken]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Mataram?

Well, I guess it all depends on how we define Mataram.

Satsujinken, your location is noted as Surabaya, you have provided us with a beautiful story, and you use choji oil on your keris.

May I be so bold as to enquire why you use choji oil for your keris rather than one of the traditional Javanese oils ?

Thank you.

yeah ... me too, my first opinion is this one was kamardikan, but since it was already within the family for quite some time, who knows ...

as tangguh is not a measurable concept, in my opinion

now why I used choji oil :

I am an engineer, and knows a bit about preserving blades. Whilst traditional oil are easily bought here, the quality is vary depend on where you buy it. So I use litmus paper as my quality control ...

and my test revealing that majority of the oil for keris sold here is acidic, including several brands of sandalwood oil I tested. Acidic = potentially corrosive

I once bought special oil from friends in Jogjakarta for my keris, first batch is good, second batch is not good as it is acidic. pH is about 4. So basically no standard at all as perhaps it was mixed personally and without proper measurement of ingredients

as we are all aware, apart from the mytical properties of nice-smelling oil, the use of oil is to preserve the blade (and original staining) by protecting it against humidity.

the oil used must also be "friendly" with the ornaments, sheath, pendok, hilt, etc, and acidic oil definitely must be avoided

and since I am also a kenjutsu practicioner, the easiest way in my thought was to revert to the oil that has been successfully protecting japanese blades for centuries - choji (and I have quite a lot of it)

Donny