Keris for comment

[Bjorn]

To me it seems like a gonjo iras as well. Lombok was also the first thing that came to mind. The blade should show a nice pamor if stained.

[Drabant1701]

Originally Posted by yuuzan

To me it seems like a gonjo iras as well. Lombok was also the first thing that came to mind. The blade should show a nice pamor if stained.

I have etched the blade. Perhaps I could have etched darker but I stopped when I thought it looked allright, no point in overdoing it. Anyways, sharing some pictures of the result.

[David]

What did you use to etch this blade?

[Drabant1701]

Originally Posted by David

What did you use to etch this blade?

I read that the correct way to etch keris is with arsenic and lime. I had lime-juice but no arsenic, lime juice alone did not etch at all. Lemon juice did not do much either. Finaly I tried dilluted Ferric Chloride (about 20%) that etched pretty quickly, I did not etch very long since ferric is rather strong.

[Rick]

I think if you used arsenic & Lime you would see a reverse effect.
Almost like negative to positive in photography.
My cousin to your blade was done with arsenic & lime.

I don't know if you can get any where you live, but iirc it must be white arsenic.

[Drabant1701]

Originally Posted by Rick

I think if you used arsenic & Lime you would see a reverse effect.
Almost like negative to positive in photography.
My cousin to your blade was done with arsenic & lime.

I don't know if you can get any where you live, but iirc it must be white arsenic.

Interesting. I cant get arsenic here so that is not an option. But it would look better if the effect was reversed. Is there any alternetive method that would produce a result similar to arsenic and lime?

[drdavid]

Hi Drabant
if you search the forum you will find plenty on staining, there is some pretty comprehensive advice. Unfortunately nothing will give you the same effect as the traditional arsenic based method.
cheers
DrD