eBay Toss of the Dice (NEW PICS!)

David · 4th February 2011, 03:50 PM

I received this keris today and would say that my gamble was fairly successful. The blade is a fairly well formed old Bali 9 luk blade that is extremely edge sharp. It has a nice clear pamor and well executed ricikan. As a bonus there seems to be a small triangle of gold applied to the blade on one side at the Bawang Sebungkul.

Unfortunately on the reverse side there is a rough patch in this area that may have once held gold and has since lost it.
Someone also covered the entire blade in a cosmoline-type rust inhibitor. I am assuming that this will come off with mineral spirits, but it leaves a very ugly finish for now. And the hilt is stuck in the wrong position for now so i'll be slowly heating the blade to try to remove it so that i can properly clean it.
The newer cheap dress actually doesn't look all that bad in person. With a little work it will at least be acceptable for the time being. It should be too hard to fix the fit of the blade either.
All in all i am pleased and i will post when i can attend to some of this restoration.

Sajen · 4th February 2011, 04:21 PM

Congratulations David, sounds very good. I am curious to see better pictures.

Detlef

GIO · 4th February 2011, 05:46 PM

Very good, David. I am happy of your good purchase.
I too have been attracted by this item, but have also noticed that the seller ships to US only....
I have a few times discovered good blades in tourist-looking dresses and was always puzzled for the reason of such "sacrilege" A proper scabbard and hilt would enhance a lot the appeal of the keris.
Anyhow, congratulations
GIO

David · 4th February 2011, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GIO

I have a few times discovered good blades in tourist-looking dresses and was always puzzled for the reason of such "sacrilege" A proper scabbard and hilt would enhance a lot the appeal of the keris.

I have also Gio. I think it happens for various reasons. Sometimes it's just a matter of what someone can afford. Often enough it's the case of a sheathless blade that somebody wants to sell, but they have no interest in spending the money to properly dress it first.

Either way, i'd rather have this sheath to work with then none at all...

danny1976 · 5th February 2011, 10:36 AM

hi David,

can you please show some picture,s of the blade

David · 5th February 2011, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danny1976

hi David,
can you please show some picture,s of the blade

I will Danny, but i want to do some work on it first, remove the cosmoline which is like a resin coating the blade and fix up the dress a bit. I am having difficulties with the hilt though. After 2 days of off and on heating the thing won't budge and i am afraid the previous owner used some serious glue to stick it.

David · 15th February 2011, 11:42 PM

OK folks, here's some quick first pictures of my preliminary renovation. I will probably take a better crack at the blade in the spring when the weather gets warmer and i can properly stain it. For now it's fine, even though i don't think i got all that nasty cosmoline off the blade yet. I finally got the hilt off and found that i needed to straighten the pesi. It could probably still go a bit straighter, but since i wasn't heating it i didn't want to go too far and snap it off. I did some minor refinishing on the scabbard and discovered that the dress is actually 3-tone as the hilt is darker than the wrongko. I was going to stain it all one tone, but have decide to leave it as is for now. I added a uwer i had lying around, not so much for the aesthetic, but more because the hilt doesn't fit all the way down and my drill bits didn't reach far enough to deepen the hole, but i think this uwer fits well.
Frankly i'm not too disappointed in the dress even though it is in the mode of what we have come to refer to as "tourist" dress. I think we have discussed this a little before, but i wonder when and for what original purpose this form of dress developed. This one is carved a little better than most and the wood is heavy and semi dense. The Kocet-Kocetan is not the worst i have ever seen. It is not a fine work of art, but it is nicely stylized and complete.
Ah, but the blade is what i took the chance on and i feel that my gamble paid off nicely. A well formed 15.5 inch gently curving 9 luk blade with deeply cut ricikan, good pamor and (BONUS!) a triangle of gold kinatah at the Bawang Sebungkul. There is also remnants of the same on the reverse side. I am not well versed on the difference in dhapur for different periods in Bali, but something tells me this might be an earlier blade. There is something about the way the features belly out at the gandik that makes me think so, but i might me off on this thought.
Anyway, enjoy the pics. I don't often post may keris, but you've all seen the eBay images and i am sure you would want to see better shots.

15th February 2011, 11:42 PM	#7
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,220	OK folks, here's some quick first pictures of my preliminary renovation. I will probably take a better crack at the blade in the spring when the weather gets warmer and i can properly stain it. For now it's fine, even though i don't think i got all that nasty cosmoline off the blade yet. I finally got the hilt off and found that i needed to straighten the pesi. It could probably still go a bit straighter, but since i wasn't heating it i didn't want to go too far and snap it off. I did some minor refinishing on the scabbard and discovered that the dress is actually 3-tone as the hilt is darker than the wrongko. I was going to stain it all one tone, but have decide to leave it as is for now. I added a uwer i had lying around, not so much for the aesthetic, but more because the hilt doesn't fit all the way down and my drill bits didn't reach far enough to deepen the hole, but i think this uwer fits well. Frankly i'm not too disappointed in the dress even though it is in the mode of what we have come to refer to as "tourist" dress. I think we have discussed this a little before, but i wonder when and for what original purpose this form of dress developed. This one is carved a little better than most and the wood is heavy and semi dense. The Kocet-Kocetan is not the worst i have ever seen. It is not a fine work of art, but it is nicely stylized and complete. Ah, but the blade is what i took the chance on and i feel that my gamble paid off nicely. A well formed 15.5 inch gently curving 9 luk blade with deeply cut ricikan, good pamor and (BONUS!) a triangle of gold kinatah at the Bawang Sebungkul. There is also remnants of the same on the reverse side. I am not well versed on the difference in dhapur for different periods in Bali, but something tells me this might be an earlier blade. There is something about the way the features belly out at the gandik that makes me think so, but i might me off on this thought. Anyway, enjoy the pics. I don't often post may keris, but you've all seen the eBay images and i am sure you would want to see better shots. Attached Images

4th February 2011, 03:50 PM	#1
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,220	I received this keris today and would say that my gamble was fairly successful. The blade is a fairly well formed old Bali 9 luk blade that is extremely edge sharp. It has a nice clear pamor and well executed ricikan. As a bonus there seems to be a small triangle of gold applied to the blade on one side at the Bawang Sebungkul. Unfortunately on the reverse side there is a rough patch in this area that may have once held gold and has since lost it. Someone also covered the entire blade in a cosmoline-type rust inhibitor. I am assuming that this will come off with mineral spirits, but it leaves a very ugly finish for now. And the hilt is stuck in the wrong position for now so i'll be slowly heating the blade to try to remove it so that i can properly clean it. The newer cheap dress actually doesn't look all that bad in person. With a little work it will at least be acceptable for the time being. It should be too hard to fix the fit of the blade either. All in all i am pleased and i will post when i can attend to some of this restoration.

4th February 2011, 04:21 PM	#2
Sajen Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Germany, Dortmund Posts: 9,216	Congratulations David, sounds very good. I am curious to see better pictures. Detlef

4th February 2011, 05:46 PM	#3
GIO Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 329	Very good, David. I am happy of your good purchase. I too have been attracted by this item, but have also noticed that the seller ships to US only.... I have a few times discovered good blades in tourist-looking dresses and was always puzzled for the reason of such "sacrilege" A proper scabbard and hilt would enhance a lot the appeal of the keris. Anyhow, congratulations GIO

5th February 2011, 10:36 AM	#5
danny1976 Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Holland Posts: 245	hi David, can you please show some picture,s of the blade