Arsenic or realgar for Keris etching?

A. G. Maisey · 10th August 2009, 11:23 AM

Over more than 30 years I have purchased and used traditional warangan in Solo.

It has never looked like any of the examples I've seen photos of here.

The warangan that has been available in Solo over the last couple of years has been very inconsistent in producing satisfactory results.

Since the early 1960's, and predating my use of Javanese warangan I have used laboratory grade arsenic tri-oxide. This has invariably produced very satisfactory and very consistent results.

Here are examples of these results:-

10th August 2009, 11:23 AM	#11
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,992	Over more than 30 years I have purchased and used traditional warangan in Solo. It has never looked like any of the examples I've seen photos of here. The warangan that has been available in Solo over the last couple of years has been very inconsistent in producing satisfactory results. Since the early 1960's, and predating my use of Javanese warangan I have used laboratory grade arsenic tri-oxide. This has invariably produced very satisfactory and very consistent results. Here are examples of these results:- Attached Images