Hi David, and thanks for the response. Yes, I know you're never supposed to sharpen a keris, but some do have sharp edges, right? I keep mine by the door in a blawong and I wanted to know it would actually be usable if I ever had to pick it up, since I'm not really interested in weapons that can't be used in real life.
The lab grade As2O3 might be a little harder to locate than realgar, but I'll see what I can do. Maybe I should just get it restained on my next trip to Indonesia--It's only US $200 roundtrip from Hong Kong on Garuda.
I thoroughly cleaned the blade with lime juice and detergent before drying it thoroughly with a hair dryer, and it was a clear white except for a few patches which would not give up the stain on them (and I can't figure out why). Is it possible this keris was stained with something else besides warangan? The seller got back to me and said it was done with 'black warangan,' which doesn't tell me much. It is possible to turn nickel black with other substances and even heat treating, correct? The ganja does appear to have been made in a sandwich so I'm guessing the wilah is too...
BTW, any comments on the keris guys?
I believe it is pamur tiban, but I'm probably wrong...I'm such a newbie to the world of keris, but I'm learning a lot from reading threads here.