Palembang Keris for your comment

[A. G. Maisey]

I've never experienced this problem Jean --- the brighter areas I mean. I have no idea why you have, and why I haven't. This spotting thing is something I've done for as long as I can remember, where the occasion demanded it.

EDIT

Jean, I've just gone back and had a close look at your blade. How was this stain job done? My guess is that it is probably a stain done either by the soak method or by the brush method that I myself recommend for beginners to use. When I've spotted a blade it would have been one that I stained myself, and I do not use either of these methods to do a stain.

My recommendation for John's keris was to use the spotting, then follow on with picking the rust away, by doing it this way you are using the acid to loosen the rust, but not dissolve it, that's why you watch the job, you don't want the acid to start eating away too much of the hard metal, you just want it to fizz a little bit, when the fizz dies down you leave it there a bit longer, wash it and go to work with the pick, its not a matter of leave it there and forget, you use it just like you'd use any tool.

I also recommended only a light vinegar clean when the rust was gone, and the purpose of this would be to get rid of any other dirt and possibly allow the metal grain to be seen.

There are a lot of processes and ways to approach a blade clean.