Pedang restored + Warangan in Java

A. G. Maisey · 28th June 2018, 12:02 AM

Actually Jose, the art of blade staining is pretty much dead in Bali. They used to use warangan (realgar) the same as everybody else, but these days they send their blades to Surabaya for staining.

No, its not a Bali pedang.

ariel · 28th June 2018, 02:48 AM

A very naive question:

Since etching/staining is a controlled rusting, couldn’t one instead of a very toxic arsenic with lime juice use good old Nital?

kai · 28th June 2018, 08:16 AM

Hello Ariel,

Quote:

Since etching/staining is a controlled rusting, couldn’t one instead of a very toxic arsenic with lime juice use good old Nital?

Controlled oxidation, not necessarily rusting.

E. g. warangan results in a surface layer of arsenate. Have a close look at the pics!

Regards,
Kai

A. G. Maisey · 28th June 2018, 10:28 AM

Ariel, I've never used Nital, but I understand it is comprised of nitric acid and alchohol, as such, I would expect it to be a very good etchant, but I would not expect it to stain ferric material blue-black. Arsenic stains ferric material blue-black.

28th June 2018, 12:02 AM	#1
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,056	Actually Jose, the art of blade staining is pretty much dead in Bali. They used to use warangan (realgar) the same as everybody else, but these days they send their blades to Surabaya for staining. No, its not a Bali pedang.

28th June 2018, 02:48 AM	#2
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	A very naive question: Since etching/staining is a controlled rusting, couldn’t one instead of a very toxic arsenic with lime juice use good old Nital?

28th June 2018, 10:28 AM	#4
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,056	Ariel, I've never used Nital, but I understand it is comprised of nitric acid and alchohol, as such, I would expect it to be a very good etchant, but I would not expect it to stain ferric material blue-black. Arsenic stains ferric material blue-black.