Staining keris with Chinese warangan

[harimauhk]

Hormat Alan and Rick,

Good stuff. I now know I was definitely using too much warangan. I live up on the 12th floor, which is actually 13 floors above street level because my block of flats is on a slight incline. There is usually a fairly good breeze in my living room if the windows are open. I don't have a balcony or deck, so I think I'll mranggi the keris out in the corridor: since this building was built in the late '60s, there is a fair amount of indirect sunlight out there during the day and lots of airflow. The elderly gent down the hall hangs his laundry up out there and I sometimes practice my silat outside my front door when it's raining out!

I'll probably get some odd looks from the neighbours if I'm sitting out there painting warangan onto a keris, but I get those looks all the time anyway, so I'm not too bothered. I think the process will go much better this time around. I'd like to work the file marks off using coconut husk as suggested, so I'll pick up a coconut later in the week. They are often used in religious practices in Hinduism, which is the only time we've ever used them at home...

Jai

[A. G. Maisey]

Jai, I don't think you will remove any file marks with coconut husk. We use the husk with abu gosok in the same way that here in Australia we use a pot cleaner and powdered sink cleaner to remove dirty marks from pots and sinks.The husk and abu gosok is used to make the blade white, prior to beginning the staining.

If you want to do a refinish you need wet and dry paper, but quite frankly, I'd leave the file marks alone. You cannot just remove a little bit, if you start to play around with the finish, you really need to refinish the entire surface of the blade, and then age the surface again, then begin the staining process again. Truly, you are looking at a major project to do this, especially if you do not have any sort of workshop set up.

If I were you I would not go fiddling around with the finish.

The situation you have to work in is far from ideal, however, a friend in Canada once did a halfway decent job working in his basement during winter in Alberta, so you'll get some sort of result. What I've been telling you up to now is for optimum results.

Rick, I've read somewhere in one of the old books about the necessity to do the job outside only when the trade winds are blowing, because if not, you die a horrible, painful death from inhalation of the fumes.Where I live there are no trade winds, I always work outside , so there is always circulation of air, but I have very, very often got a whiff of the vaguely unpleasant smell of the job, and I'm still sucking air. I gave up worrying about the fumes years ago.

[Rick]

Just thought I'd mention it Alan; after all we're handing free advice out on the 'Net' if you catch my drift .

Can't be too careful mate .

[A. G. Maisey]

Yep. Understand perfectly Rick.

I'm not giving advice in respect of the fumes, only relating my own experience.

[harimauhk]

I did it indoors the first time around and (I believe) I'm still alive and kicking, so I'm not too worried about the fumes, but I will basically be outdoors next time round. Thanks Rick, you definitely can't be too careful when it comes to working with arsenic. I'll leave the file marks alone then, but I will try to scrub off the stubborn blackened portions of the old warangan that refuse to budge with the coconut husk. If the mranggi turns out successfully, I'll be back with pictures.

Alan, definitely good to know the ideal way to go, even if I can't get it 100% right. I might do it up on the rooftop, but in the shade (not in direct sunlight) so there is no glass to worry about. There's a tap up there too, so I'll have a source of water with which to wash the keris off as I'm working.

[A. G. Maisey]

Rooftop sounds good to me Jai.

[kulbuntet]

Indoor setting is posible.... but some of you know..if the balls get to tingle....get out of there