National exibition of Keris 2012

[Richard Furrer]

Originally Posted by MitsuWa.

There are a lot of ways of looking at tools. Would you pay your carpenter to walk to the lumberyard to buy your wood for the project because he enjoys the process? In the first world there are people who are of the opinion angle grinders are unacceptable for blade making and one must own a belt grinder, drill press and hydraulic press or power hammer to make laminated blades. Of the smithing videos I have seen Indonesian smiths work with sledge hammers.

It maybe that the smiths can not afford a power hammer and human labor is the more cost effective way to go. I have quite an array of tools in mu shop...none of which work when I am not in the shop. Machines do not make the work..they allow me to to do so either faster, larger or with less strain on my body.
I have rarely met other craftsmen who have a greatly different view on this, though I often meet collectors who do.

Question:
Where do the current Empu get the raw materials? The steel mostly. Is there yet a steelmaking from ore tradition in Indonesia?

Ric