new Keris, some questions

[A. G. Maisey]

Pendok are not always easy to remove.

To begin with they are a pressure fit, sometimes the gandar can be wrapped with cloth, or paper to create that pressure fit, sometimes jabung can be used to hold the pendok in place, sometimes corrosion can build up on the inside of the pendok and all these things, as well as other things, can make a pendok difficult to remove.

Sometimes the gandar will separate from the gambar, leaving the gandar stuck inside the pendok, if this happens we need a segrek to remove it.

Judicious application of heat will always assist in removal.

[David]

First thing i would do is remove that bit of copper wire around the top of the gandar that appears to run under the pendok in the front. If the pendok is not fixed in place that will make removal easier. If it is difficult to remove Alan has given you some good advice.
I would start on the blade by removing the hilt (if that isn't fixed in place) and soaking the blade down well with WD-40. Let it work into the blade for a bit and it will loosen some dirt and rust. You can use an old toothbrush on the blade to loosen dirty further. The blade will probably need some soaking in a mild acid bath of fruit acid or vinegar to clean it properly and you may need to go over it with a pick or awl of some type and a magnifying glass to really clean it up completely. There are some other options to warangan that have been discussed on this forum in the past you could consider if arsenic is not an option. Or you could just oil it once cleaned and not stain it at all. Either way it will look better than it does now.

[A. G. Maisey]

Everything that David has written is good advice, however, I would proceed a little differently with the blade, I would take it into the kitchen, along with a hard toothbrush and give it a good scrub under running hot water with some dish was detergent, then I would pat dry with a lint free cloth, and blow dry with a hair dryer or hot air blower.

At that point I would assess it and decide whether it was OK as is, in which case I'd give it a drenching spray with WD40 and let it dry off before painting it with a light machine oil, or medicinal paraffin, preferably scented with sandalwood oil or similar.

If I decided that I might be able to improve the stain, I'd probably start by getting a couple of fresh tahitian limes squeezing & straining and then massaging the lime juice into the blade with a soft toothbrush, as the blade colour came up I'd rinse & dry & repeat. An old half stained blade like this will often respond to a half stain process.

If it is really dirty & corroded after the wash in the kitchen, a soak in white vinegar for a couple of days together with picking away rust mechanically as David suggests could be useful.

There are a lot of different ways to go with a keris blade, and it all depends upon your assessment as to which way might work the best, short of a complete strip back to a white blade, followed by a competent stain with lime juice and either warangan (natural arsenic) or laboratory quality white arsenic --- neither of which I will go on record as recommending.

[morel5000]

Thank you both for your good advice, the Pendok was luckily easily removed and is now mounted in the right way. I haven' found time to clean. If I do I will post the result.
Thanks again, Michel