Damaged sheath

[A. G. Maisey]

I believe that James has already established that he does not have the missing pieces, otherwise he would not have mentioned the need for matching wood.

I recognise that super-glue --- Alteco --- is an extremely popular adhesive in Indonesia, but it really is perhaps the very worst adhesive that can be used for any quality repair work. A fast set two part resin adhesive is far superior in virtually every application. My biggest objection to any of the super glues, and to Alteco in particular is that they are not a permanent repair. Over time they lose strength and eventually they come loose. I think of this failure as "drying out", but its probably not that, its probably some long term chemical reaction.

In any case, to replace these missing sections of wood with either the original, or with new wood would be a total waste of time, as the inevitable penetration of the material with oil would prevent satisfactory adhesion now, and certain dislodgement in the future.

The use of a traditional adhesive (jabung) would not be particularly satisfactory as these adhesives need a broad surface to bind to and lack the necessary strength to bind narrow surfaces. Varnish + wax is one such adhesive, wax + damar is another. Essentially the various combinations of varnish/wax/ damar etc are hot mix glues that need a fair bit of practice to master the use of.

If the blade does not reach the broken section of the gandar, it would be possible to insert an inlay into the gandar and attach new material to that with jabung, or to simply shorten the gandar, but both of these solutions are makeshift options and totally unsatisfactory.