Keris project

[Paul Sherman]

Hello-

I'm working on a keris project for a friend (pictured), and while the area on the blade before the ganja definitely needs some detail, I am reluctant to start on anything since it'll be hard to recover if I blow it.

I am amazed at the detail carved/ground on real kerises, especially given the apparently simple tools used.

To some of the more experienced folks, how would you go about doing something even as simple as the parallel lines in the example below? My inclination is to draw it out, then score with a wheel, then use something (lathe tooling perhaps)
to clean up the valley...verrry carefully.

Any ideas appreciated-

Thanks-
Paul

 

[Jesse Latham]

I've never attempted this type of thing. But If I did I might try a practice piece with a wax coating, scribed lines and acid etch.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Jesse is dead on it.

Sand to 400+ grit and clean completely. Coat the blade with wax or asphaltum, scribe the lines through the resist, and etch in FC or aqua regia.
You can even draw a makers mark or decorative pattern on it and etch it at the same time.
You can do simple lines, scrolls, fill the ricasso delta with feathers, or any design you can scribe.

Experiment with some plain steel to get the hang of it.

 

[Paul Sherman]

Excellent idea.
I have FC and make my mark with electrical etching, so I'll experiment with those techniques.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

David Boye's book "Step-by-Step Knifemaking" has a lot of info on doing acid etching of blades. It is readily available and cheap.