Agarwood oil for keris?

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by David

A small amount of clove oil is traditional used for maintaining katanas and other Japanese blades.

Hello David,

I've never smelled this oil, could the smell be such strong?

[A. G. Maisey]

Yep, clove oil for Japanese blades.

I did use clove oil for a while on keris blades, probably 50 years ago. I didn't like it much --- but its good for toothache.

[silkreeler]

Hi Sajen, clove is cengkeh. So just imagine an oil with very very intense aroma cengkeh. I heard that in the past the samurai may have used clove simply to differentiate between the oil for sword and oil for cooking. Not sure if it's true. Anyway, I was first shocked when I first smelled a katana, but then gradually I grew to like it better. The smell has some hint of courage and intensity, just my personal opinion. But I do like keris smells better. More options for expressions, from mysterious jasmine to noble cendana. But then some say jasmine is more suitable for feminine kerises. Is this some new, paranormal-based opinion, or is it one with strong cultural historical root?

[silkreeler]

I did handle some keraton quality kerises and they had a similar sharp fragrant aroma, even though the kerises were from different owners. I suspect it to be musk because it kinda smelled like "old days men's perfume". Is it common for Javanese nobilities to use musk flavored oil? I'm also tempted to buy musk essential oil and use it for my keris if it was a common practice / has good precedent.

[A. G. Maisey]

In Solo the most generally used oil in the past, and now, is sandalwood + kenanga + a base oil.

The sharp smell in this oil comes from the kenanga.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by silkreeler

Hi Sajen, clove is cengkeh.

Hi Silkreeler,

I know that clove is cengkeh in bahasa Indonesia! But thank you!

Regards,
Detlef

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Yep, clove oil for Japanese blades.

I did use clove oil for a while on keris blades, probably 50 years ago. I didn't like it much --- but its good for toothache.

Yup, it help! Thank you Alan and David.

[silkreeler]

Alan Maisey: Ohhh I see ... I really gotta check out kenanga then ...
Deflet: Okay!! Sorry, thought I just needed to clarify :d

[Gajah]

Traditionally vegetable oil was used for Japanese swords, usually camellia oil (tsubaki-abura 椿油) with a few drops (less than 5%) of clove oil (chōji-abura 丁子油). It has a yellowish color, and strongly smells of cloves. It absorbs moisture, but gums up easily when dried. It's also mildly aggressive (which is good for cleaning Japanese swords in a less-than-perfect state of preservation), but quite messy when it soaks into the sheath.

Mineral oil (kōbutsuyu 鉱物油) was used from the Meiji era on when mass-production of swords for the Japanese army started - it's cheaper and easily obtainable. It's clear, and thinner than vegetable oil, and doesn't deteriorate as fast; one also needs less of it compared to chōji scented vegetable oil.

[ariel]

Nothing beats good old WD-40: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" :-)

[David]

Originally Posted by ariel

Nothing beats good old WD-40: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" :-)

Well Ariel, on a practical level you might well be correct, however, many keris collectors choose to follow more traditional methods that honor the "spirit" of the blade. Fortunately your personal belief is not necessary to validate such traditions.