Rick, you have still darkened the ferric material, exactly as you would have had you used warangan, the difference is that it is simply not as dark.
I've made damascus blades that incorporated mild steel + 01 + nickel, and I've stained them with ferric chloride. The end result is very similar to what we see in a keris blade.
If the pamor is high phosphorus content iron, then you're going to get a dark grey, light grey effect from ferric chloride, but if there is nickelous content, the nickel bearing material will still not be effected by the ferric chloride.
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