Recommendation? Antique blade restoration

M

Muse2

Joined
Jan 1, 2025
Messages
9
Happy new year all!
I found my grandfather's Korean war things while cleaning his old garage and, from my limited research, it seems to be a Javanese or Filipino Kris. It's a beautiful weapon and I would like to have it restored but I don't know of any companies that would have that service or if the condition of the blade is too far gone.

I don't know anything about the blade or it's origin. My grandfather died one month before I was born and never talked about his time in the Army. All I know is that he was a paratrooper in the Army. I suspect the 11th AB division but I couldn't find any records online.

If anyone can help me out or point me in the direction of a professional or company in, or around southern Ohio I would be very grateful!
https://imgur.com/CyizDNl
 
Looks like a moro kris from the Philippines? The hilt has fallen off and the blade is pretty pitted. You could try to find a place that sells them and see if they have craftsmen who could repair it. But they would need to send it to the Philippines. Maybe traditionalfilipinoweapons.com
 
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fishface5 said:
Looks like a moro kris from the Philippines? The hilt has fallen off and the blade is pretty pitted. You could try to find a place that sells them and see if they have craftsmen who could repair it. But they would need to send it to the Philippines. Maybe traditionalfilipinoweapons.com
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It might be, I'm sorry I don't know more about the weapon's origin. My buddy thought the same thing, that it might be a Moro Kris, I wish I knew for sure. It's a real shame all the history died with my grandpa...

You're right, the hilt will easily come off if pulled on or generally held. I'm not sure if it can be rebound to the rest of the blade or if that's just the condition now. I don't know any of the vocabulary for blades, sorry. But I assume "pitted" means rusted to all hell and you'd be right.
My next step is to call the Cincinnati museum center to see if they have someone that could help me locally. Barring that, I have A LOT of "friends through friends" helping me on this and I'm getting some pretty good offers there too.

Nothing is off the table for me. I'll send it to the Philippines if I have to, but I would rather exhaust my options locally before I commit to that. In the mean time, I'll look into that website. I really appreciate you and everyone helping me on this! I hope this would make my grandpa happy!
 
Alberta Ed said:
Might be better to keep it as it is, as a memento of your grandfather.
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I've also considered this. I'm not sure if he would want it restored to its prior glory, if possible, or if he would want me to leave it be.
 
Try http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/ (forum link on the side) . There are a lot of guys that collect Philippine weapons there, and they would be able to point you to who's doing the best restoration work in the US. Also I would only consider work done in the States, simply due to the chances of it being lost in the mail. That happens sometimes.

Looks like it would need a cleaning, handle reseating, new ferrule, and new buttcap made, so that should give you an idea what to ask for if you go forward :).
 
tltt said:
Try http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/ (forum link on the side) . There are a lot of guys that collect Philippine weapons there, and they would be able to point you to who's doing the best restoration work in the US. Also I would only consider work done in the States, simply due to the chances of it being lost in the mail. That happens sometimes.

Looks like it would need a cleaning, handle reseating, new ferrule, and new buttcap made, so that should give you an idea what to ask for if you go forward :).
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Thank you so much! I've found vikingsword.com while researching what kind of weapon it might be. I'll absolutely give those guys a shout!

I live around Cincinnati, Ohio and I just sent out an email to the Cincinnati Historical Archives on the Cincinnati Museum Center's suggestion. Like you said, I would hate to lose it in the mail so I'm doing my utmost to exhaust my local options before looking abroad. That being said, I haven't made up my mind if I would commit to sending it over to the Philippines and, depending on my options, that isn't off the table... yet.

I really appreciate the lingo and what I should be asking for! I have very little clue what I'm doing but it's always fun to learn new things! I'm imminently headed back over to grandpa/ma's house to keep cleaning but I'll give Vikingsword.com a shout before I go!
 
If it is refinished, it won't look the same, or probably not even close. If it were mine and I had the same attachments, I would oil the metal and see what rust came off. After doing that a few times, I would put it in a shadow box and let it show its use and history. No way would I want a resto-mod done.
 
I would wipe the steel surface with mineral oil or something similar. Then, maybe make a new handle similar to this one.
 
Stickgunner said:
If it is refinished, it won't look the same, or probably not even close. If it were mine and I had the same attachments, I would oil the metal and see what rust came off. After doing that a few times, I would put it in a shadow box and let it show its use and history. No way would I want a resto-mod done.
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I apologize if I've miss-worded some of my requests/intentions. I, in no way, want to refinish this blade. I just want the rust off it or if that's impossible, to stop any further rusting. I'd like to fix the hilt(?), if that's the right word, as it's crumbling away at any touch. I really like the design of the braided wrapping over the wood but I doubt that's fixable at this point. What I want is to simply preserve the blade and remove and/or prevent rust. I don't know what a shadow box is but I'll look it up! I was just going to hang it on my wall but I bet you guys might try to kill me if I do that... :)

To give you guys a bit of an update, I've been in contact with all the museums I can think of in and around Cincinnati. Unfortunately none of them had a conservator on staff. I was very surprised by that so I just reached out to the SCA group of reinactors on a friend's suggestion.

To touch back on what you suggested, I'm terrified to do anything with the blade because I'm a total noobie when it comes to this. My idea was to talk to a professional conservator first and go from there. Due to my inability to find one, however, I'll look into your suggestion and try myself.

I REALLY don't want to screw this up... But I trust your, and everyone who has commented's, experience!
 
Dragon_Man said:
I would wipe the steel surface with mineral oil or something similar. Then, maybe make a new handle similar to this one.
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I'll give that a try! Like I said to Stick Gunner, I'm a total noobie and I simply found this in a ruined garage. As for the handle, my Step father might be able to help me out but I'd like to preserve as much of the original weapon as possible!
 
Update: I did know what a shadow box is! That's a much better idea that "Hang on my wall with drywall screws".

Anyway, I'm off again to grandma/pa's property to shovel the one million inches of snow and ice that fell yesterday. Hope ya'll are having a good day too!
 
Is there a specific cloth and/or brand of oil you guys would use? I usually just stick to a microfiber rag for my PC stuff and WD40 for everything else. If there is an ideal material to use, let me know!
I really appreciate everyone's input so far! I'm really excited to get working on this!
 
Muse2 said:
Is there a specific cloth and/or brand of oil you guys would use? I usually just stick to a microfiber rag for my PC stuff and WD40 for everything else. If there is an ideal material to use, let me know!
I really appreciate everyone's input so far! I'm really excited to get working on this!
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I personally prefer gun oil but any light weight oil will do. I would avoid using WD-40. It has it's place but it is not intended to be a preservative.
 
Wipe it with mineral oil, the loose rust will come off and the active stuff will stop. I wouldn’t do anything more aggressive.

N2s
 
Triton said:
I personally prefer gun oil but any light weight oil will do. I would avoid using WD-40. It has it's place but it is not intended to be a preservative.
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Ok, thanks! I've seen plenty of debates on WD40 and I wasn't sure if it actually works or not. I'm not sure where to get mineral oil other than online so I'll try gun oil first.
 
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