.. you could contact a member of BF, goes by the name Mohd a resident of Kuala lumpur, Malaysia. he's also held a high respected reputation in Indonesian Blade ..
Hi Falah, thanks for the nice words on me! Actually I'm just an unworthy busybody in Indonesian Blade
BTW, I missed the Indonesian Blade Tee Shirt that day. Hope I could grab a couple from the next forum shirt project
Mohd is who I would refer you to. Very knowledgeable on the subject.
Hi Chuck, thanks for the nice words on me! Actually mine's only a tiny tidbit from the vast knowledge on the subject
And I'm continueously learning from you and all
.. I will be on business in KL in a week or so, and would really like to check out some local blades and smiths ..
Hi John, I've read your email. And I've created a thread in our local Malaysia Knife Forums to get as much info as I can about blades and smiths in KL or nearby. Anyhow since it's a long holiday in Malaysia (i.e. Chinese New Year) and the forum members most probably are on leave and out of town so I haven't got any response from them yet.
To tell you the truth, being local I'm not that keen collecting our locally made knives (i.e. parangs and goloks). Not that I don't appreciate them. It is more like something that I can always easily get so I tend to look outside
Our local blades are made for use and our local collectors (i.e. other than the forum members) are more into the hilt and the sheath quality. Even I did commission my parangs and goloks to Indonesian and US makers (i.e. my friend Chuck is one of them) to get something different especially in the blade materials and workmanship. Most of our blades are made from spring steels (i.e. 5160) and I just couldn't get any made from 5120, W2, O1 etc or damascus locally.
Okay, back to info that you need, most of good parangs and goloks are made outside of KL (i.e. Kuala Lumpur). You might need to travel a bit further like 4 or 5 hours drive from KL. And AFAIK there's no knives shop in KL that specialize in selling good quality parangs and goloks. The best place that sells good quality parangs and goloks is KK (i.e. Kuala Kangsar) which is situated in the state of Perak in the north say about 4 hours drive from KL. It is there you can find most of good smiths. Other smiths and sellers are scattered in other states such as in Johor (i.e. 5-6 hours drive from KL), Terengganu (i.e. 5-6 hours drive from KL), Kelantan (i.e. 7-8 hours drive from KL) and Kedah (i.e. 5-6 hours drive from KL).
Recently I found out that there's a smith in the state of NS (i.e. Negeri Sembilan) that makes and sells good parangs and goloks and you can reach him in about 3 hours drive from KL. I think this is the nearest one from KL. He has a blog that shows his works and you can contact him via phone or email. The smith's name is Zamri Bin Wahid and you can have a look on his works in his blog
TUKANG BESI DAN SARUNG PARANG.
FYI, I was informed that Malaysian National Craft Day 2011 is to be held from 2/23/11 till 3/7/11 and it is participated by craftsmen (i.e. including parangs and goloks makers) from all around Malaysia (i.e. Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak). Anyhow your coming to Malaysia is quite some time before that event. Still during your stay you can go to Malaysian Craft Center situated at Jalan Conlay in KL and it is one of the not to be missed tourist spot in KL.
Hope this helps and I'll update you more in here as I get any additional info from local knifeknuts. And you're most welcome to KL and Malaysia, John
mohd
