Moro Kris

RobT · 25th January 2008, 12:44 AM

Hi Battara,
Well, that certainly shoots that theory all to heck. I made an assumption based on an incorrect interpretation of the replies and you know what happens when you assume instead of observing and considering carefully.
Sincerely,
RobT

Battara · 25th January 2008, 07:42 PM

That's ok - I have often made an asset of my self many, many times.

Actually Robert it was not a bad idea.....

kronckew · 27th January 2008, 08:43 AM

one last question i have needs ellucidation.

when reading frederico's excellent info linked to on the reference site, i noted that during construction the kris blade would be descaled and shaped using a draw knife, with more recent ones being filed.

how does one tell?

my kris has a series of fine straight parallel grooves running longitudinally along the blade with no sign of what i would consider filing marks perpendicular to the edge, in fact i do not see any sign that the edge was ground to sharpen it other than a very fine polished edge bevel of maybe a millimeter & the lines are constant and parallel to the longitudinal axis right to the edge (there is some variation near the luks). i see no signs that a stone or grinder has ever been anywhere near this blade, no random marks as i'd expect from stoning or sanding/grinding. it certainly looks to my mechanical engineers eyes like it was scraped with a tool lengthwise rather than filed.

the lines over most of the blade are very fine, but near the hilt are a bit more distinct. across the gangya itself they ARE perpendicular & across the blade from the ends of the baca-baca to the hilt. is this filed or drawn? what dates were the transition to filing or is that too broad?

Battara · 27th January 2008, 08:52 PM

Would you please post pictures - this would help tremendously.

kronckew · 27th January 2008, 09:18 PM

OK, you can see the striations in this shot

you can kind of see them in the earlier photos, but i've set the lighting on this one to exaggerate them a bit
.

kai · 28th January 2008, 08:53 AM

Hm, I'm not sure what caused these but IMHO it screams power tools (seems like this was done after the hilt and clamps were already fitted - maybe just a really bad cleaning/polishing job?). It certainly isn't something I've ever seen with an antique Moro kris.

Your blade has been grinded into shape (luk and gangya features formed by stock removal). In the traditional approach a blade would be forged into shape and would only need minor work to remove scale and to smooth the surface. Detailed work at the base of the blade would be done by specialized tools (including small files, I suppose) and then the blade would be ready for the final polishing steps.

Regards,
Kai

Battara · 28th January 2008, 09:56 PM

I'm with Kai on this one. You see more of this on mid - present made pieces.

25th January 2008, 12:44 AM	#1
RobT Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 563	down in flames Hi Battara, Well, that certainly shoots that theory all to heck. I made an assumption based on an incorrect interpretation of the replies and you know what happens when you assume instead of observing and considering carefully. Sincerely, RobT

25th January 2008, 07:42 PM	#2
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,310	That's ok - I have often made an asset of my self many, many times. Actually Robert it was not a bad idea.....

27th January 2008, 08:43 AM	#3
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,239	one last question i have needs ellucidation. when reading frederico's excellent info linked to on the reference site, i noted that during construction the kris blade would be descaled and shaped using a draw knife, with more recent ones being filed. how does one tell? my kris has a series of fine straight parallel grooves running longitudinally along the blade with no sign of what i would consider filing marks perpendicular to the edge, in fact i do not see any sign that the edge was ground to sharpen it other than a very fine polished edge bevel of maybe a millimeter & the lines are constant and parallel to the longitudinal axis right to the edge (there is some variation near the luks). i see no signs that a stone or grinder has ever been anywhere near this blade, no random marks as i'd expect from stoning or sanding/grinding. it certainly looks to my mechanical engineers eyes like it was scraped with a tool lengthwise rather than filed. the lines over most of the blade are very fine, but near the hilt are a bit more distinct. across the gangya itself they ARE perpendicular & across the blade from the ends of the baca-baca to the hilt. is this filed or drawn? what dates were the transition to filing or is that too broad?

27th January 2008, 08:52 PM	#4
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,310	Would you please post pictures - this would help tremendously.

27th January 2008, 09:18 PM	#5
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,239	OK, you can see the striations in this shot you can kind of see them in the earlier photos, but i've set the lighting on this one to exaggerate them a bit .

28th January 2008, 08:53 AM	#6
kai Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,255	Hm, I'm not sure what caused these but IMHO it screams power tools (seems like this was done after the hilt and clamps were already fitted - maybe just a really bad cleaning/polishing job?). It certainly isn't something I've ever seen with an antique Moro kris. Your blade has been grinded into shape (luk and gangya features formed by stock removal). In the traditional approach a blade would be forged into shape and would only need minor work to remove scale and to smooth the surface. Detailed work at the base of the blade would be done by specialized tools (including small files, I suppose) and then the blade would be ready for the final polishing steps. Regards, Kai

28th January 2008, 09:56 PM	#7
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,310	I'm with Kai on this one. You see more of this on mid - present made pieces.