Question about preserving a keris

[A. G. Maisey]

Pande Made Gede Suardika is a known keris-smith, he would be about 50 years old now. He is located in Den Pasar.

His work is known as being quite heavy, his garap is known as being detailed & neat. His pamor is known as being well managed, but he specialises in pamor mlumah, not pamor miring. I have never heard of him making pamor miring.

I am quite surprised that he was able to produce this very complex pamor miring back in 2014. It would seem that in spite of him being so well known he is inclined to hide his light under a bushel.

[A. G. Maisey]

SJ, in respect of using a foam cleaner on any part of keris silver, think about this carefully.

When we clean embossed or engraved silver, we want the impressions in the silver to retain their patina, we do not want to remove that black or bluish patina that permits the motif to be seen.

The ideal way, and also the easiest way in which to clean a tarnished pendok is to do an initial clean with 0000 steel wool, then follow up with a silver polish cloth.

All pastes and fluids cause more problems than they solve where keris are concerned. Pastes and foams and powders and fluids are great for silver platters and large items of silver ware, this is what they are designed for.

They have the potential to break your heart if you use them on keris fittings.

[Bob A]

For preservation of ferrous metals, I've long used a product called "Eezox" which is comprised of a solvent/carrier with cleaning properties, dissolved in which there is a surface protectant, left behind when the solvent evaporates. I use it on firearms, swords and knives of various types. If the object is to be stored, I give it a light coat of Renaissance Wax, which serves to seal against moisture even more.

I have not used Eezox on keris, as I'm not sure of its effect on surfaces layered in differing metals. Nor does Ren Wax seem appropriate on keris, given the occasional roughened surfaces.

Someone did extensive anti-corrosion testing, using 46 different products. The results were interesting, though the testing environment is not one I'd imagine any of my objects being exposed to:

https://dayattherange.com/?page_id=3667

[A. G. Maisey]

I had a look at that Bob, really impressive.

But where keris are concerned I like to use an aromatic oil, my preference is a mix of a base oil, usually medicinal paraffin or Singer sewing machine oil, and the sandalwood oil with a touch of kenongo oil. But in Jawa, although my mix is probably the most frequently encountered, some people will use other aromatic oils, such as rose, or jasmin.

The reason I like to use aromatic oil is threefold, I like the smell, I don't want to insult any presence that might be in the blade (just because I cannot detect a presence doesn't mean that there is none), and lastly:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRdfX7ut8gw

[shadejoy]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Pande Made Gede Suardika is a known keris-smith, he would be about 50 years old now. He is located in Den Pasar.

His work is known as being quite heavy, his garap is known as being detailed & neat. His pamor is known as being well managed, but he specialises in pamor mlumah, not pamor miring. I have never heard of him making pamor miring.

I am quite surprised that he was able to produce this very complex pamor miring back in 2014. It would seem that in spite of him being so well known he is inclined to hide his light under a bushel.

@A.G. Maisey, I wasn't aware of his specialty. In fact I had never seen his prior work. It does sound like you know more about Bli Pande than I do. If anything, it shows how vast your network/connection is in Nusantara, which is not limited to Java..

I only knew Bli Pande based on articles and that he was well-known for producing pusaka rather than commercial. He did ask me about the purpose and intentions of getting the Keris. The Keris that he made for me was obviously not intended for temples therefore it was treated differently. But still followed Balinese cultural and traditions like picking the best day, offerings, rituals etc. I intend to keep my Keris as family heirloom which was probably why he accepted my order.

Noted on the silver foam and the pre-cleaning. I only will use it on the wide smooth surface area of the pendok. I will use the cloth for any silver carvings.

@Bob A Thank you for sharing. Interesting product albeit the mild odor. I want to say that although I'm a bit skeptical about the presence of other being resided in an object but I do keep my mixture of odorless gun oil (85%) with Cananga (10%) and Jasmine oil (5%). As @A.G. Maisey suggested, ..it's tradition.

Though I part way with tradition of annual cleaning and jamasan. It is my understanding that warangan and its process eat away ferric. It's acidic. So I tend to limit the procedure, only as needed or none at all if possible. Which led me to an idea of separating the wilah, by itself ,and store it in a vacuum-sealed bag after oiling for longer preservation.

[Jean]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Pande Made Gede Suardika is a known keris-smith, he would be about 50 years old now. He is located in Den Pasar.

His work is known as being quite heavy, his garap is known as being detailed & neat. His pamor is known as being well managed, but he specialises in pamor mlumah, not pamor miring. I have never heard of him making pamor miring.

I am quite surprised that he was able to produce this very complex pamor miring back in 2014. It would seem that in spite of him being so well known he is inclined to hide his light under a bushel.

I agree with Alan, this pamor pattern does not look balinese at all