A Moro Kriss with a Blade of Unusual Construction

[kai]

Hello Charles,

When I first bought the kriss I assumed its balde was of pattern welded construction with a typical heat tempered edge based on what I could see in the unpolished blade.

The polish showed something quite different and unique, especially for a Moro blade.

The blade is of three part "sandwich" construction(sanmei) with a hardened core running completely through the center and enveloped by two plates of softer pattern welded steel, something more typically seen in Chinese and Japanese swords.

I can't help but wonder if this feature was incorporated from Chinese or even Japanese influence.

I'm with TPS: No need to consider outside influence for a technique that has been good ol' bladesmith practise throughout the archipelago for centuries. The vast majority of antique blades of all sizes has a harder steel edge stabilized by softer mild steel/iron/pamor layer(s). Except for a very few examples crafted from western monosteel, all antique moro kris that I have examined show such a steel core (sandwich/sanmei construction) as do many of the single-edged swords; some of the single-edged swords have an inserted steel edge ("hotdog" construction) though.

Regards,
Kai