Semar, I have not purchased warangan in Surabaya.
Please re-read what I wrote so that you will understand clearly what I am saying.
I will repeat my message in the most simple terms possible in order that there can be no misunderstanding:-
1)--- the warangan that I have purchased in Solo, and have used, over a 30 year period does not look like the photos of warangan shown in this thread.
2)--- the warangan currently available in Solo is unreliable in producing satisfactory results.
3)--- since at least 1962 I have stained keris with laboratory quality arsenic trioxide; the results I am able to obtain with this are consistent, and in most cases I get a superior result to that which I am accustomed to seeing from professional blade stainers in Indonesia.
One thing I did not say in my previous post is that I pay to have approximately 100 blades stained during each 12 month period; I normally have to return half of these blades to the tukang because they are unsatisfactory; of the half I return I normally have to return about 15 or 20 blades a second time; of those blades I usually have five or so blades to stain myself. I use laboratory quality arsenic trioxide on these failed blades, and my staining is always successful.
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