The Purpose of Keris Panjang

A. G. Maisey · 10th March 2024, 08:54 PM

When a pamor blade is made it is usually made of a very thin steel core and with a plate of pamor material welded to each face of the steel core.

If deep fullers & other carving is added to the blade it will cut through the pamor plates and expose the plain material of the core, thus losing the enhancement of pamor.

We see pretty much the same thing with Javanese & Balinese blades, it comes down to whether we want a blade with pamor or a blade with carved enhancements.

There is a way of making a blade where we can have our cake & eat it too, & that is to make the entire central body of the blade of pamor material, & then weld an edge into this pamor, but this method of construction is very seldom encountered, & I have not seen a blade made in this way that is younger than a couple of hundred years old.

The word "kapit" is Malay, it means to support on each side. My understanding of this word when applied to keris is that it refers to a blade that has had part of the blade rivetted to the other part of the blade. However, I guess that it could also apply to a pamor blade, because the core of a pamor blade is supported on either side by the pamor material.

10th March 2024, 08:54 PM	#26
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,729	When a pamor blade is made it is usually made of a very thin steel core and with a plate of pamor material welded to each face of the steel core. If deep fullers & other carving is added to the blade it will cut through the pamor plates and expose the plain material of the core, thus losing the enhancement of pamor. We see pretty much the same thing with Javanese & Balinese blades, it comes down to whether we want a blade with pamor or a blade with carved enhancements. There is a way of making a blade where we can have our cake & eat it too, & that is to make the entire central body of the blade of pamor material, & then weld an edge into this pamor, but this method of construction is very seldom encountered, & I have not seen a blade made in this way that is younger than a couple of hundred years old. The word "kapit" is Malay, it means to support on each side. My understanding of this word when applied to keris is that it refers to a blade that has had part of the blade rivetted to the other part of the blade. However, I guess that it could also apply to a pamor blade, because the core of a pamor blade is supported on either side by the pamor material.