Treasure thy arsenic whilst ye may.
The price of warangan in Solo has gone through the roof. It is still possible to get it done at a reasonable---although greatly elevated---cost, but the result is disgusting. A good job now costs like gold and that is if you can find somebody to do a good job.
Cost of the material has gone up, there is an increasing demand, and import of any type of arsenic has apparently been banned.
I think it will not be too long before sellers are offering blades for sale stained with ferric chloride, and with the option of a warangan stain at an extra cost.
It may well be that in time to come the only places to get a good quality traditional stain could be somewhere in the western world.
Hope I'm wrong, but the current cost of a good stain job is just not realistic, nor sustainable.
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