Kampilan

[kai]

Hello Roy,

As regards cleaning, I was not asking how but rather "should it " be cleaned as the patina is, in my opinion quite attractive.

I'm not sure what you refer to as patina in this case.

From the pics, there is the obviously etched twistcore which certainly is attractive! This certainly should stay visible and stable for long-term storage; arguably, how much contrast would be suitable and culturally appropriate in a Moro setting is not fully established yet. This is certainly something which would need to be discussed while working on the blade since the results of different treatments can't be fully planned beforehand.

Possibly over the etching, there are patches of older rust incrustations which might compromise long-term storage/preservation; these should be completely removed IMHO.

Finally, there seems to be a fairly even layer of active rust all over the surface - flash tends to emphasise this while the naked eye (and automatic color correction in our brains) often glosses over it. As said above, this is a fairly common result of etching with ferric chloride: Even if you thoroughly neutralise after etching, you still have to make sure to wash off all chloride ions or they will continue to bite into the iron... (Chloride ions are the main reason for table salt or seawater being corrosive!)

Thus, I'd suggest that this blades needs and deserves a thorough cleaning. However, you have it in your hands and can have a much closer look than just basing your decision on a few pics alone.

Regards,
Kai