etching of Balinese keris

[GIO]

Originally Posted by David

Yes, Jagabuwana's very well presented post on staining with sulphur and rice water is probably the closest alternative i've seen to a good staining with warangan.
I did note that you titled this thread "Staining a Balinese Blade". Jaga is showing his process on an old Bugis blade with a fairly topographical surface. So i'm not sure what sulphur and rice water will do to the smooth, polished surface we find on most Bali keris.

In fact, after processing a polished blade with sulphur and rice water (and salt if you like), we can observe that iron appears corroded, while iron/nickel resists much better. In my experience, even polished Bali blades become rough after this treatment. The effect obviously is related to the length of immersion.