KRIS AND KALIS

[xasterix]

Originally Posted by kino

Nice find, 3 swords with scabbards to boot. I agree with your age assessments.

It's good that you're bringing them back to working order. By your description, they're wicked sharp.
By resetting, did you remove and replace the hilts? Did you use tree pitch to set the tang?
Thanks for sharing.

Halloo Sir Kino!

I removed the hilts from the Maguindanao and Maranao ones. I obtained the original hilt as-is for the Maguindanao (it was quite sturdy), but I had to replace the rope wrap of the Maranao's (it was falling apart). I opted to have a common rattan wrap done by a local artisan to replace the textile wrap. Although in the future, if I were to do this again- ideally I should have learned how to weave the rope wrap myself =)

I used slow-setting epoxy. While tree sap would be ideal to be faithful to the piece's original state, I plan to cut with these blades a lot; epoxy would give me additional confidence and peace of mind to use the blades regularly.

[Mickey the Finn]

~polished monocle starts from right eye~
Epoxy? My dear man, I do hope that this is some kind of attempt at a joke...

[kino]

If you’ve seen the rigors that Xasterix puts his swords thru during test cuttings you’d see why he uses epoxy in place of pitch 🙂

[Battara]

Epoxy, even the quick setting epoxy, works well for these. Like pitch, you can take the hilts off if you heat the blade (though it takes a little longer).

I use both pitch and epoxy for Moro pieces for years. No problems here.