Where can we get Cold Blue? Attn Alan Maisey or anyone who lives in Australia

silkreeler · 18th February 2014, 08:30 AM

A while back ago Alan Maisey suggested Cold Blue as an alternative to arsenic coating on keris pesi / tangs. My Australian cousin is coming to Indonesia pretty soon and I would like to ask her to get Cold Blue for me, but she doesn't have any clue where to get Cold Blue.

Is there an Australian online shop somewhere that can deliver Cold Blue? If not, can someone please recommend an equivalent stuff that works similar to Cold Blue?

Many thanks!

A. G. Maisey · 18th February 2014, 12:47 PM

Gun shops.

I've used Birchwood Casey:-

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/419...ue-3-oz-liquid

A little bit goes a very long way. The bottle I have now is still about half full and I bought it maybe 30 years ago.

I suggest that your cousin should do a ring around of gun shops in her area and ask if they stock the stuff.

Its major value is as a touch-up agent, it can help save an old stain job that is looking a bit holey around the edges. You could probably do a complete blade with it, if you exercised care.

silkreeler · 18th February 2014, 05:15 PM

Many thanks, I will pass the info to her.

David · 18th February 2014, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silkreeler

My Australian cousin is coming to Indonesia pretty soon and I would like to ask her to get Cold Blue for me, but she doesn't have any clue where to get Cold Blue.

Just out of curiosity, given that you live in Indonesia where it shouldn't be too difficult to get your blades stained in the traditional manner, why do you want to go this route? While there are certainly many other methods to bring contrast into a pamored blade it has always been my understanding that only a warangan treatment will yield the proper colors for the particular materials used in the blade. Perhaps i am wrong about this.

A. G. Maisey · 18th February 2014, 09:22 PM

David, I am not presuming to answer on behalf of Silkreeler, and I hope that he will give you his own response, however, getting a blade stained well, and correctly, is no longer easy in Jawa, and I doubt it has ever been easy in other places in Indonesia.

For many years the primary source of quality warangan was Toko Vera in Pasar Gede, Solo. They used to supply re-sellers all over Jawa, and further afield, however, a few years ago the old stock that they had been relying on for many years ran out, and they obtained some more from India, which was not much good at all and caused the users a lot of problems. Now that has run out as well and apart from the difficulty of locating satisfactory material, government regulation now prohibits the import of warangan, which is, of course, a form of arsenic. Toko Vera is owned by members of my wife's extended family and is run by her nephew and his wife.

The cost of getting a poor warangan job done in Solo has escalated. It is now extremely expensive to get a job done that 5 years ago I would not have accepted, but now you cannot get a better job done. Decent short-term work is still being done in Surabaya and other places in East Jawa, but the operative word is "short-term". It looks pretty OK directly after it has been done but it will not last for many years, as the old jobs used to. I've seen these current jobs, both from Surabaya and from Solo go bad within 2 or 3 years.

I believe that this problem will sort itself out sooner or later, people will begin to use lab quality white arsenic, but those people will be educated, qualified people who have the required govt. qualifications to be in possession of and use, this hazardous chemical, and because of this required certification + the cost of the material, a blade stain will no longer be a nice, comparatively cheap little addition to a blade, but will cost as much as or more than the blade itself.

Blades have not been stained in Bali for as long as I've been going to Indonesia --- dealers there say they are stained there, but they are not, Bali blades are sent to Surabaya.

Those of us who live in the western world and who do understand how to correctly stain a blade now carry knowledge that could well disappear in Jawa.

David · 18th February 2014, 10:02 PM

Thanks Alan for that detailed response.

silkreeler · 21st February 2014, 07:39 PM

Precisely!! It is quite a headache to get a properly done warangan job in Indonesia. Besides, in my case, I only want to get a portion of my blade re stained (the pesi, or some areas of the blade where I just rubbed off the rust along with some stain) ... I don't want to remove the entire coating from the blade, so I don't mind having a portion of the blade having a different color hue from the rest ... From what I know no warangan guy would like to immerse a partially whitened keris into their warangan solution.

By the way, Alan, when you said the solution can do the entire blade, does it mean it would still give color contrast between pamor and the iron?

silkreeler · 21st February 2014, 07:46 PM

It is not an overkill to say that it is a dying art. A friend quoted me a Chinese guy who passed away couple years ago. He was a Chinese warangan expert in Surabaya who was a stickler to tradition. He said according to the traditional method, you would have to watch for the climate and observe the clouds, among many other factors, to ensure your warangan job would do well. A guy once didn't observe this requirement, and his keris didn't get the optimum color, it was "not properly dried because the weather was more humid than it was supposed to be".

Heck, I'm not sure if I'm quoting stuffs right, anyone who knows better please correct me ...

18th February 2014, 08:30 AM	#1
silkreeler Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 27	Where can we get Cold Blue? Attn Alan Maisey or anyone who lives in Australia A while back ago Alan Maisey suggested Cold Blue as an alternative to arsenic coating on keris pesi / tangs. My Australian cousin is coming to Indonesia pretty soon and I would like to ask her to get Cold Blue for me, but she doesn't have any clue where to get Cold Blue. Is there an Australian online shop somewhere that can deliver Cold Blue? If not, can someone please recommend an equivalent stuff that works similar to Cold Blue? Many thanks!

18th February 2014, 12:47 PM	#2
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,892	Gun shops. I've used Birchwood Casey:- http://www.midwayusa.com/product/419...ue-3-oz-liquid A little bit goes a very long way. The bottle I have now is still about half full and I bought it maybe 30 years ago. I suggest that your cousin should do a ring around of gun shops in her area and ask if they stock the stuff. Its major value is as a touch-up agent, it can help save an old stain job that is looking a bit holey around the edges. You could probably do a complete blade with it, if you exercised care.

18th February 2014, 05:15 PM	#3
silkreeler Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 27	Many thanks, I will pass the info to her.

18th February 2014, 09:22 PM	#5
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,892	David, I am not presuming to answer on behalf of Silkreeler, and I hope that he will give you his own response, however, getting a blade stained well, and correctly, is no longer easy in Jawa, and I doubt it has ever been easy in other places in Indonesia. For many years the primary source of quality warangan was Toko Vera in Pasar Gede, Solo. They used to supply re-sellers all over Jawa, and further afield, however, a few years ago the old stock that they had been relying on for many years ran out, and they obtained some more from India, which was not much good at all and caused the users a lot of problems. Now that has run out as well and apart from the difficulty of locating satisfactory material, government regulation now prohibits the import of warangan, which is, of course, a form of arsenic. Toko Vera is owned by members of my wife's extended family and is run by her nephew and his wife. The cost of getting a poor warangan job done in Solo has escalated. It is now extremely expensive to get a job done that 5 years ago I would not have accepted, but now you cannot get a better job done. Decent short-term work is still being done in Surabaya and other places in East Jawa, but the operative word is "short-term". It looks pretty OK directly after it has been done but it will not last for many years, as the old jobs used to. I've seen these current jobs, both from Surabaya and from Solo go bad within 2 or 3 years. I believe that this problem will sort itself out sooner or later, people will begin to use lab quality white arsenic, but those people will be educated, qualified people who have the required govt. qualifications to be in possession of and use, this hazardous chemical, and because of this required certification + the cost of the material, a blade stain will no longer be a nice, comparatively cheap little addition to a blade, but will cost as much as or more than the blade itself. Blades have not been stained in Bali for as long as I've been going to Indonesia --- dealers there say they are stained there, but they are not, Bali blades are sent to Surabaya. Those of us who live in the western world and who do understand how to correctly stain a blade now carry knowledge that could well disappear in Jawa.

18th February 2014, 10:02 PM	#6
David Keris forum moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 7,123	Thanks Alan for that detailed response.

21st February 2014, 07:39 PM	#7
silkreeler Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 27	Precisely!! It is quite a headache to get a properly done warangan job in Indonesia. Besides, in my case, I only want to get a portion of my blade re stained (the pesi, or some areas of the blade where I just rubbed off the rust along with some stain) ... I don't want to remove the entire coating from the blade, so I don't mind having a portion of the blade having a different color hue from the rest ... From what I know no warangan guy would like to immerse a partially whitened keris into their warangan solution. By the way, Alan, when you said the solution can do the entire blade, does it mean it would still give color contrast between pamor and the iron?

21st February 2014, 07:46 PM	#8
silkreeler Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 27	It is not an overkill to say that it is a dying art. A friend quoted me a Chinese guy who passed away couple years ago. He was a Chinese warangan expert in Surabaya who was a stickler to tradition. He said according to the traditional method, you would have to watch for the climate and observe the clouds, among many other factors, to ensure your warangan job would do well. A guy once didn't observe this requirement, and his keris didn't get the optimum color, it was "not properly dried because the weather was more humid than it was supposed to be". Heck, I'm not sure if I'm quoting stuffs right, anyone who knows better please correct me ...