Identifying Pamor for a First Keris

[David]

Originally Posted by QuisUtDeus

Thank you! My name's not Michael, but St. Michael is one reason I've entered the keris community. A few effigies of him wield a keris. I've actually found a reason for this but it might be too far afield to post in the forum. I do think many of you would find it interesting, though. The reason begins with the keris, then delves into architecture, ethnography, astronomy, and ultimately eschatology. It gets pretty far out.

I would be very interested in seeing an effigy of St. Michael wielding a keris. I think you will find that what the saint is holding in these effigies is a generic flamboyant sword. The keris is not defined by a wavy blade and in fact most keris are of the straight blade or lurus variety. Still, i am glad that St. Michael could get you here, even if through an accidental misunderstanding.

Originally Posted by QuisUtDeus

I'm already picking up new parts. I'll save them for a nicer blade. I'll take pictures of the scabbard break for repair advice when I'm off work. It looks to me like carpenter's glue will work. You've given me a lot of historical references to go through. I appreciate it! Where do I get the staining compound? I may not use it, though. The milky look reminds me of a Fremen crysknife from Frank Herbert's 'Dune': a very influential book in my life.
The hilt only fits three of my fingers and my pinky rests on the pommel -- a really bad grip. I wouldn't want to fight with it. What sort of pommeled hilts give an extra few centimeters? Or what style hilts have no pommel?

Well, if you are already picking up new parts i suppose you will now need to buy more keris and are already addicted.
I believe carpenter's glue will do the trick. Just work sparingly and cleanly.
To create warangan is a more difficult issue, especially in the United States (as well as other countries). It is a mixture of arsenic and lime juice. For the most consistent results a laboratory quality arsenic is best, but it is very difficult to legally obtain in the States. Suitable arsenic can be obtained from the mineral realgar, which is an arsenic sulfide crystal and i believe that is legal, but it is much harder to prepare as you need to grind the mineral up for use.
I do appreciate that you are finding your own reference points for this keris (St. Michael, the milkiness of Fremen's crysknife) and i will certainly not try to convince you that might be the wrong approach to take when developing an interest in keris, but i will share my own traditionalist approach anyway. I personally don't collect keris to convert them to my own personal paradigm, but rather to try to explore and understand the paradigm of another culture and era.
You will find that keris handles often don't fit the modern Western hand that well. They were indeed made for a typically smaller grip. I suppose that if i did intend to actually fight with certain keris in my collection i would have to consider a hilt form that better fits my hand, but i certainly have no intention of ever doing so and i am more concerned with keeping a keris as close to it's tradition form and condition as i can. Of course, your mileage may vary.

Originally Posted by QuisUtDeus

I'm happy to get addicted to kerises! My audio and watch hobbies have cost a serious grip. The keris hobby is much more affordable. If it turns out this keris has meteorite I will be one happy dude. I read that an odd green color showing in the sunlight is a sign of meteorite. I'll have a good idea when the blade is thoroughly clean.

I don't want to burst a bubble here, but very few keris were ever made with meteoric pamor. These were mostly high end court blades made after the late 18th century. Green color showing on a blade in the sunlight is probably far more indicative of a poorly washed blade than one containing meteorite. There is quite a lot of nonsense written about the keris i'm afraid. You cannot always believe what you read.
Oh, and i can also assure you that keris hobby can be just as expensive, if not more, than an audio and/or watch hobby, and i do know that some watches can get pretty expensive.