New Guy, 'nother New Keris

David · 27th September 2013, 06:20 PM

Yeah, i've seen coconut oil go rancid so i've always avoided it. Not sure what the oil base is that they sent to you James but it could well be coconut and you might want to make your own.

A. G. Maisey · 27th September 2013, 11:15 PM

A good quality gun oil is without doubt superior for the purpose of retarding rust.

But --- the smell of gun oil is totally incorrect for any keris.

I've used a mix of liquid parafin + synthetic sandalwood oil + natural kananga oil for about 40 years. I spray first with WD40, and let that dry off overnight, it leaves a slightly greasy deposit, then I apply the scented oil, and wrap the blade tightly in a plastic sleeve.

I live 25 meters from a salt water lake. I have never had even the smallest problem with rust.

The scented oils used in Jawa have coconut oil as a base and these do go rancid, leave an unpleasant smell and can build up a gunky residue. Brushing with mineral turpentine and drenching with WD40 will will clean this muck off without damage to the blade.

tunggulametung · 29th September 2013, 06:17 AM

I think fragrances and spirituality has been linked one another forever.
I believe most of us bought our keris second hand so we don't have control to what has been used in the past. In Indonesia, you need to ask that you strictly don't want any oil to be applied when you hand your keris to others, eg. for repair, staining etc, otherwise most of the time (at least from my experience) it will come back generously oiled (seen as good gesture?), often with foreign interesting scent. Basically a very thin film of oil (traditional way), wax, or other (easily) removable protective substance on blade surface is what we want but on bare/unfinished wood like maybe the fact with all inner part of warangka, oil will generally create problem both for the wood and the blade in one way or another; depending on what oil has been used, how severe the wood has been saturated, how many portion of the blade exposed/touching to the warangka, how often you check/maintain the blade, is it stained (or blued) or not, other triggering factor like humidity, lighting condition, etc. Bare metal may also rust if exposed to bare wood (or even air) for prolonged period. Newly made warangka may use wood that has not been dry enough and remain so for a long time and may later pick up moisture from the air. I think most of us has seen that rust problem leading to worn surface/edges on keris blade is more pronounced in the areas where its touching the warangka and its surrounding, perhaps not because the oil itself but due to other factor like the wood absorbing the oil and left the blade unprotected?, other chemical reaction?. Anyone has a more scientific explanation to this? A plastic wrap like what Alan mention is very popular for newly stained keris done by those on the trade, it is very effective method for prolonged storage, especially if it is not on display/you have large collection. Happy oiling everyone

27th September 2013, 06:20 PM	#1
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,218	Yeah, i've seen coconut oil go rancid so i've always avoided it. Not sure what the oil base is that they sent to you James but it could well be coconut and you might want to make your own.

27th September 2013, 11:15 PM	#2
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,015	A good quality gun oil is without doubt superior for the purpose of retarding rust. But --- the smell of gun oil is totally incorrect for any keris. I've used a mix of liquid parafin + synthetic sandalwood oil + natural kananga oil for about 40 years. I spray first with WD40, and let that dry off overnight, it leaves a slightly greasy deposit, then I apply the scented oil, and wrap the blade tightly in a plastic sleeve. I live 25 meters from a salt water lake. I have never had even the smallest problem with rust. The scented oils used in Jawa have coconut oil as a base and these do go rancid, leave an unpleasant smell and can build up a gunky residue. Brushing with mineral turpentine and drenching with WD40 will will clean this muck off without damage to the blade.

29th September 2013, 06:17 AM	#3
tunggulametung Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 238	I think fragrances and spirituality has been linked one another forever. I believe most of us bought our keris second hand so we don't have control to what has been used in the past. In Indonesia, you need to ask that you strictly don't want any oil to be applied when you hand your keris to others, eg. for repair, staining etc, otherwise most of the time (at least from my experience) it will come back generously oiled (seen as good gesture?), often with foreign interesting scent. Basically a very thin film of oil (traditional way), wax, or other (easily) removable protective substance on blade surface is what we want but on bare/unfinished wood like maybe the fact with all inner part of warangka, oil will generally create problem both for the wood and the blade in one way or another; depending on what oil has been used, how severe the wood has been saturated, how many portion of the blade exposed/touching to the warangka, how often you check/maintain the blade, is it stained (or blued) or not, other triggering factor like humidity, lighting condition, etc. Bare metal may also rust if exposed to bare wood (or even air) for prolonged period. Newly made warangka may use wood that has not been dry enough and remain so for a long time and may later pick up moisture from the air. I think most of us has seen that rust problem leading to worn surface/edges on keris blade is more pronounced in the areas where its touching the warangka and its surrounding, perhaps not because the oil itself but due to other factor like the wood absorbing the oil and left the blade unprotected?, other chemical reaction?. Anyone has a more scientific explanation to this? A plastic wrap like what Alan mention is very popular for newly stained keris done by those on the trade, it is very effective method for prolonged storage, especially if it is not on display/you have large collection. Happy oiling everyone