Warangan

[Jean]

Originally Posted by David

Sorry, i'm going to push this a little bit. What do you think is particularly good about it?
I realize that this work might look better in person and Jean has stated he photographed quickly, but to my eyes much is left to be desired in some of these. In the first grouping it does not appear that the warangan took all that well in the 3 blades to the right. The first and third from the left seem to have the best effect.
In the next 2 examples the last one seems to be pretty good, though i can't tell if the color is fading a bit towards the end of the blade or if that is a trick of the lighting.
Frankly this looks much like the kind of results i get when i stain and i don't consider my skills at this work to be particular laudable. Much like this work it is a bit hit or miss.
I don't mean to be overly critical, but if we are going to present stuff like this for comment on the site i don't see what good it does anyone to just say "great work" if we think otherwise.

Hello David,
Thanks for your question and your appreciation which is shared by another senior member by the way. I agree that this is a question of personal taste and part of it is due to the blades themselves and the pictures, I will try to reply to it one by one:
Among the set of 6 blades, only the 3 on the left had relatively intact pamor but very indistinct, the one on the right is a Minang blade without pamor and was cleaned only, and the 2 others had very indistinct and worn-out pamor, the remnant of it being clearly visible after waragan even if the pattern does not look nice but there is nothing better which could be done! I am very satisfied with the results on the 3 blades on the left.
Regarding the 2 other blades (Bugis and Sumatra), they were a bit rusty and very dull, and the pamor was very indistinct (problably never cleaned since 100 years), and I was amazed to see the pamor contrast after cleaning and warangan. On the top one with pamor Lar Gangsir, there is no pamor on the ada-ada so this is why you see a black line in the middle (nothing to do with the warangan work). On the other one, the color is not fading towards the tip but it is an uneven lighting effect only (you can easily notice it on the bue background also)
Well, in my opinion the warangan work could not be better with these blades and I willl be open and curious to know what is wrong with it. If you can do as well or even better, congrats!
Best regards
Jean