Keris restoration

Klaus Albrecht · 20th June 2007, 02:17 PM

Thanks a lot for your answers

the low contrast, is it a sign for an old blade?
next time I will etch the blade again, with the other method - lay into realgar bath. what are you mean, is it better than the method with the paste and drying in the sun?
best greetings
klaus

kai · 20th June 2007, 09:25 PM

Hello Klaus,

Quote:

the low contrast, is it a sign for an old blade?

Many old blades have low-contrast pamor while all(?) modern blades from blacksmiths of the Madurese school offer very brightly contrasting pamor. Quite a few old blades have also bold pamor though...

Quote:

next time I will etch the blade again, with the other method - lay into realgar bath. what are you mean, is it better than the method with the paste and drying in the sun?

I got better results from immersing the whole blade but this may be due to climatic reasons or from utilizing realgar rather than pure arsenic trioxide(?).

Regards,
Kai

A. G. Maisey · 21st June 2007, 12:45 AM

Klaus, buried somewhere in the discussions of the old Forum is a complete explanation of a very simple and easily controllable method to stain a blade.

There are a lot of different methods, and personally, for a quality job, I do not like the soak method. The paste on blade method is wasteful of material, too difficult to control, and again, in my opinion, just not a good method.

The best method I am not prepared to pass on, not because it is a deep secret but because it is too potentially dangerous, and really must be demonstrated for somebody to fully understand how to use it.

See if you can find the method already published, if you cannot, get back to me, and I'll give it to you.

20th June 2007, 02:17 PM	#1
Klaus Albrecht Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Austria Posts: 8	Thanks a lot for your answers the low contrast, is it a sign for an old blade? next time I will etch the blade again, with the other method - lay into realgar bath. what are you mean, is it better than the method with the paste and drying in the sun? best greetings klaus

21st June 2007, 12:45 AM	#3
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,015	Klaus, buried somewhere in the discussions of the old Forum is a complete explanation of a very simple and easily controllable method to stain a blade. There are a lot of different methods, and personally, for a quality job, I do not like the soak method. The paste on blade method is wasteful of material, too difficult to control, and again, in my opinion, just not a good method. The best method I am not prepared to pass on, not because it is a deep secret but because it is too potentially dangerous, and really must be demonstrated for somebody to fully understand how to use it. See if you can find the method already published, if you cannot, get back to me, and I'll give it to you.