Keris restoration

[kai]

Hello Klaus,

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...

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