WHICH SUNDANG?

[ganjawulung]

And the whole view, for size comparison. Maduran keris with eastern Jawa scabbard (without pendhok). I found this keris as it is. I didn't change the scabbard and the handle... The size is 42 cm without pesi (comparing to 52 the sundang). Older Maduran, and Eastern Jawa tends bigger in size than the central Jawa kerises. Eastern Jawa -- could means the Madurese who stayed in northern part of East Jawa, just across Madura island...

GANJAWULUNG

[PenangsangII]

Regarding Alan's question on what's holding the ganja and the blade in place.... the ganja was drilled to tight fit pesi's size, and heated. Once heated, the hole became softer and flexible, so its fitted nicely when cold though normally a little gap can be seen

[PenangsangII]

And though I cant be sure that my opinion is correct, the mismatched blade and dress are normally attributed to Kalimantan....

[A. G. Maisey]

Penangsan, I do understand shrink fitting and have used it myself in non-keris related things.

Please note:- this is a square pesi.

Can you please advise the localities where shrink fitting of a ganja is normally carried out. I am only familar with two usual methods:- the keyway and the crimp. I doubt that I have seen a blade where the ganja was shrink fitted.

Is this a common method of fitting the ganja in Moro type keris?

[PenangsangII]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Penangsan, I do understand shrink fitting and have used it myself in non-keris related things.

Please note:- this is a square pesi.

Can you please advise the localities where shrink fitting of a ganja is normally carried out. I am only familar with two usual methods:- the keyway and the crimp. I doubt that I have seen a blade where the ganja was shrink fitted.

Is this a common method of fitting the ganja in Moro type keris?

Alan, my teacher, an Empu by Malaysian standard, use shrink fitting technique all the time, compare to pandai besi's standard who normally use glue or epoxy to hold the blade and ganja.... the drawback of using this technique however, a gap between blade and ganja would be visible (more or less).

Could you please elaborate the techniques you mentioned, the key way and the crimp.... is it the same as using a "pasak" to tighten the ganja to the pesi?

[A. G. Maisey]

That's interesting information, Penangsang.

Very interesting.

However, I would imagine your teacher is fitting a round pesi to a round hole.

The pesi on this sundang is square.

When we fit a square shaft ( the pesi) to a square slot ( the cut in the ganja) there are unequal stresses at the square cut corners of the slot. The material in the ganja is of small mass, thus the stresses will not be great, however, they will exist, and if that ganja is of layer welded material , we could expect to see any imperfections in welding fail. Especially so when we realise that the sides of the oblong slot are very thin in comparison with the length from the pesi to each end of the ganja.

Still, as I have remarked, the mass is not great, so with perfect fitting, and a press fit of only a few thou, you'd possibly get away with it. Provided you did not go into high orange on the heating.

With a round hole and round shaft (pesi) the same unequal stresses do not occur, but are distributed evenly around the hole.

But then there is still one problem that is insurmountable with traditional hand-tool techniques, and that is the achievement of a tight fit betweem ganja and blade base. I've made a number of keris, and more than a few ganjas. To get a neat tight fit between ganja and blade base is a swine of a job that requires repeated fitting and filing or scraping.

If you want to do a shrink fit you do not have the possibility of achieving a tight fit of ganja to blade base, and anything less is simply not acceptable.

Now, if we consider the blade that is the subject of discussion here, we can see a reasonably close fit, and we can see a very considerable gap between the pesi and the ganja. Anybody who has the skill to hand cut a slot to a tolerance of the few thou needed to achieve a shrink fit, would certainly have the skill to cut that slot so that it fitted closely to the pesi at its top.

Yes, it is possible to shrink fit a ganja to a pesi, but it is not possible to use this fitting method with hand tools and achieve an acceptable fit to the blade base. Most especially so with a square cut pesi and slot.

The crimp method of fitting is where the hole is cut to a press fit on the pesi, and then a punch and hammer is used to tighten the ganja hole around the pesi. I have most often seen this method used in Bugis and Peninsula keris.

The key method of fitting involves cutting a keyway with a very small file into the side of the hole in the pesi, then a small key is made to fit that keyway --- a tiny piece of tapered steel --- which is driven home with a punch, thus tightening the ganja. Sloppy and lazy makers use a small nail instead of a purpose cut key. The best position for the key is at the buntut urang side of the pesi hole.

So to my mind, the question remains:- how is the ganja kept in place?

[PenangsangII]

You are absolutely right Alan, the shrink fitting method is used to fix the round pesi into the round ganja hole - and according to my teacher, it is the old tradition (what ever that means...)

Although i dont have any sundang that was made by my teacher, I was told by him that is the only way for him to attach the ganja to the blade, be it on a keris or sundang.

And, your question about how the ganja is kept in place - would not it be securely kept in place when the ganja is mounted to the pesi when its tightly cold shrunk? Some of my kerises were made by my teacher, and the ganja were fitted this way... I have never experienced the ganja of my kerises loosen even after soaking them in citric acid solution, as compared to using glue or epoxy.....

Maybe I have not answered your question, if so, please rephrase it again as English is my third language after Malay and Javanese