Moro kris , to clean or not to clean ?
 

I recently acquired this moro kris , I'm not sure what region it's from etc , but there is quite alot of rust , I have taken the light surface rust off with some steel wool ,but im wondering should I go further with cleaning ,or is it stripping it of its age and use ?

Looks like a nice3 1920s Magunindanao kris. I would clean the silver - silver was meant to shine.

Also, if you cleaned the blade, re-etch it to have the laminations come out.

Tom, I agree with Battara. The silver should be cleaned, as well as the white metal on the scabbard (hard to say whether this is silver, probably not--could be nickel, white brass, or tin). The blade justifies a thorough cleaning and etching as there is already a nice pattern visible.

Nice kris. As Battara noted, an early 20th C example.

Interesting metal tab that is attached to the ferrule ring and laying on top of the gonjo .

Suppose it ever had a baca-baca stirrup once?
Sure looks like it did.

Yes I wondered about this tab ,was it originally there to hold a stirrup in place , Also thanks for everyone's advice in cleaning the sword , I will do the best I can but looks like it will take alot of work , thanks

Agreed with the others, clean it and try to give it a new baca-baca. ;)

I would oil and clean the wooden parts with oil (linseed, olive..) and polish the metal parts. I also would clean the blade further and like suggested by Jose and Ian etch it.

Regards,
Detlef