Arsenic or realgar for Keris etching?

A. G. Maisey · 15th August 2009, 11:19 AM

Yeah, that's arsenic trioxide. Which we already know. What is the relevance of the links?

What we're talking about here is the supposed greater corrosiveness of arsenic trioxide over warangan.

In this respect I have not noticed any difference between warangan and arsenic trioxide.

None at all.

Arsenic is very mildly acidic. Lime juice itself is far more acidic than arsenic.

So is vinegar.

So is pineapple juice.

So is coconut water.

So is dilute hydrochloric acid.

So is dilute sulphuric acid.

So is citric acid.

And all these quite mild acids are regularly used to clean keris blades.

Yes, the three blades I've posted pics of are all new blades. I made two of them, Yantono made one of them.They're new.

I've used arsenic trioxide on old blades many times, but I cannot recall exactly which old blades that I still have that I've done with arsenic --- or more correctly, there are a couple I can easily ID as having been done with arsenic, but I do not publish photos of my personal keris. I have probably still got some blades that I've done with arsenic that are ID'd as blades that I will sell, and if I can find one or two I'll put up pics of those too.

However, the long and the short of it is that I have never noted any corrosive effect flowing from use of arsenic trioxide.

In my experience this corrosiveness of arsenic trioxide simply does not exist.

Not only does it not exist in my experience, but the claim is impossible to support with logic, given the relative acidity of arsenic trioxide and lime juice.

If a blade edge has become eroded following the staining process it will be because of some factor other than the use of arsenic trioxide.

15th August 2009, 11:19 AM	#11
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,015	Yeah, that's arsenic trioxide. Which we already know. What is the relevance of the links? What we're talking about here is the supposed greater corrosiveness of arsenic trioxide over warangan. In this respect I have not noticed any difference between warangan and arsenic trioxide. None at all. Arsenic is very mildly acidic. Lime juice itself is far more acidic than arsenic. So is vinegar. So is pineapple juice. So is coconut water. So is dilute hydrochloric acid. So is dilute sulphuric acid. So is citric acid. And all these quite mild acids are regularly used to clean keris blades. Yes, the three blades I've posted pics of are all new blades. I made two of them, Yantono made one of them.They're new. I've used arsenic trioxide on old blades many times, but I cannot recall exactly which old blades that I still have that I've done with arsenic --- or more correctly, there are a couple I can easily ID as having been done with arsenic, but I do not publish photos of my personal keris. I have probably still got some blades that I've done with arsenic that are ID'd as blades that I will sell, and if I can find one or two I'll put up pics of those too. However, the long and the short of it is that I have never noted any corrosive effect flowing from use of arsenic trioxide. In my experience this corrosiveness of arsenic trioxide simply does not exist. Not only does it not exist in my experience, but the claim is impossible to support with logic, given the relative acidity of arsenic trioxide and lime juice. If a blade edge has become eroded following the staining process it will be because of some factor other than the use of arsenic trioxide.