small twist core moro kris ?

[tom22]

Originally Posted by David

Beautiful "archaic" style kris.
I don't know what you found when you looked up how to etch blades, but generally the etch done on Moro blades is a light etch. When i have done this i have used vinegar, which acts slowly and relatively gently. As advised, i would certainly not sand the blade in any way. You don't want to remove the topography that currently exists on the blade. But if you were to etch in in vinegar you could use a toothbrush to work along the blade. Even more fine grades of steel wool would help to clean our crevices before etching without removing any steel or wearing down the surface. A good cleaning and light etch will indeed make this pattern pop better. But if there is no rust and you are happy with the current look i think that is also fine.
I agree with Jean that this pommel is definitely old ivory, not bone. while the hilt and pommel are probably more recent than the blade i think this hilt might be a bit older than originally suspected when it first appeared to be wood.
Have you been able to identify the material of the ferrule? Is it actually silver of some other white metal?

Hi David ,Thanks for your information and advice, Most etching techniques ive seen involved sanding the blade down to bright steel and then etching with vinegar or citrus juice to bring out the pattern , I quite like how it looks as it is , all ive done is use soft wire wool and oil to remove the red powdery rust and then cleaned the blade with rubbing alcohol , ive also applied a coat of ren wax ,
I believe the ferrule is silver , it was very black in colour and so i used some metal polish which shone it up