Surakarta Keris 3 luk

[A. G. Maisey]

Martin, if a blade is dressed correctly --- by "dressed" I mean physical imperfections removed --- we would not expect to see tool marks, & this redressing would also explain the lack of erosion at the wadidang, the exposure of core material is expected.

The blade has been dressed, or if we wish "cleaned up".

The waves are very shallow, so they would not have taken much from the original length, at its present length it is still well within acceptable dimensions for a Javanese keris.

If you do give it a proper stain, make absolutely dead certain that you get the material completely white before you begin, and do not over-do the stain.

To get a blade dead white we use abu gosok in Jawa, that's burnt wood ash that is used to polish cooking utensils, at home I use our western world equivalent, powder sink cleaner. Abu gosok is used in combination with coconut husk.

You might or might not get a contrasting pamor, & I would expect that even if the pamor does contrast, it will not be high contrast, but rather grayish.