Quote:
Originally Posted by milandro
There are other methods , especially the Rice water+ Salt and Sulphur method.
But until there are beter or different videos , in English, this remains to only alternative for people living in most part of the world to do this themselves
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Having a video that is in English and clearly lays out steps for this process is great i suppose...if indeed it is showing us a good method that will yield the best results. I must agree with Alan though that the process this gentleman is showing us may in fact not be the best method available for us to follow and certainly not the simplest. The point is that there are other methods of applying warangan, and that when we talk about "other methods" we don't necessarily mean non-arsenic methods. I have not personally done a great deal of blade staining, but i have had much better success with the brush on method that Alan has laid out in his post #36 than anything this gentleman has showed us so far. All the hoops this guy suggests we jump through to create warangan and his method for applying it are unnecessary and may not yield the best results. So following his methods just because they are clearly laid out in an English speaking video does not make much sense to me.
I will also note a couple of other things. While i am quite aware of the pinching method he uses to help get the warangan into the pores of the blade and that indeed many people who do this in Indonesia do it barehanded, i have a hard time recommending people handle an arsenic solution in this manner. I have not done or found any studies on how this kind of practice might affect the health of mranggi who do this consistently over periods of time, but i believe it is not wise to encourage people to handle it with your bare hands as the video shows. Of course, i realize that a lot of things are done in Indonesia that would not pass muster with OSHA or the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHSA). I have seen countless videos of people smithing shirtless and barefoot without wearing any eye protection. It is just the way of things over there. While i accept that i certain can't advocate for the practice though.
Also, while i realize that the blade should be rinsed with running water when finishing this is obviously going to rinse small amounts of arsenic down your drain. Can't say i can be an advocate for such a thing even in small doses.
I also noted when watching this last video that there appeared to be a relative large area of rust that remained on the pesi of the blade he was working on. Yes, the guy has perseverance that is perhaps admirable, but again, i am not impressed by these videos.