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Old 13th December 2023, 01:54 AM   #4
A. G. Maisey
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Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 6,722
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A classic piece, very nice indeed.

It has probably been cleaned and stained a number of times, & if it were mine I would clean & stain it again now, but if you do not have the necessary experience and you do not have access to lab. quality arsenic, it probably best to give it repeated oil soaks and using magnification & a sharp pick, mechanically remove as much rust as possible. This oil & pick method works well, I cleaned a couple of Bali keris in this way around 50 years ago, & they are still excellent today. Took me a long time.

The gonjo is a pressure fit, it could be held in place with a tiny wedge driven down between tang and gonjo, or it could be held in place by tightening with a punch around the tang hole, either way it is a mechanical fit.

Using alloy jaw liners in a vice to hold the blade --- or just folded news paper, the tang can be tapped back into position. I use a jeweler's hammer for this, or you can use a punch & and a larger hammer. Sometimes the gonjo might rise up a bit, but again, it can be tapped back into position. This gonjo out of a alignment thing is pretty common, it can be considered to be normal maintenance. Best to use a punch & hammer to tighten the fit again when the gonjo is back in place. When you have the blade in the vice it is best to use your left hand over the top of the gonjo tail & gripping the blade, to hold it firmly and get feedback on what is happening.

Stylistically these Palembang keris are copies of Central Javanese keris, there were strong political ties between the Central Javanese kingdoms & the South Sumatera kingdoms.
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