Palembang Keris

[Pendita65]

Dear Mr. Maisey,

i forgot to take a picture before staining, as it was white before the warangan, and my friend who stains his own Keris said that the Keris did not react so quick on the warangan it took some time before it started to become visible, I rather like the stain, as i have others that are allmost similar in color. For now i am satisfied. The remaining traces of gold didn't dissapear so i am happy with that as well. I need to fill in some small damages on the wrongko but that's not to much work.

regards, Martin

[A. G. Maisey]

Thanks for your response Martin.

In these photos, your keris looks very much like the result from just a vinegar soak, or repeated brush applications, of household vinegar. You have advised that it was white before commencement of staining, & that your friend, who is experienced in blade cleaning & staining, held the opinion that this keris was a bit slow in generating a reaction to the warangan.

From a photo I cannot comment with confidence on whether your blade has been stained to the expected best result possible. In the photo it seems to be too pale and to lack contrast, but it is an old blade, and it could well be made of old style material, which can easily be stained too dark to the point where the pamor becomes difficult to see. So maybe your blade is as good as it can be.

Old blades normally react quite quickly to re-staining, since your blade did not react quickly it poses the question of why it did not react quickly. I do not know of any way to find an explanation for a slow reaction in an old blade. Possibly the weather --- heat, sunshine, humidity, all these things can affect the staining process. An experienced person can often understand why a blade is not responding as expected, but usually only while the stain is being attempted.

I have found that newly made blades are the most difficult to stain, but when the stain has been successfully completed, these difficult blades are usually extremely impressive. One keris that I made took me two 10 hour days to stain, & I needed to work in full sunlight in 30 odd degrees celsius to get the stain to take, however, when it was completed this stain was, and still is, exceptional.

The method of application of the stain is something that has considerable effect. If the stain is simply brushed on the result is normally not all that good, if a commercial soak approach is used, results vary considerably & often do not endure well. I use a method that is inherently dangerous, it is the way in which keraton pusakas in Surakarta are supposed to be stained, but this method is not one that most people care to use, even though it can produce the best result possible, it is not a method that I ever recommend to anybody.

However, all in all, I think you have done a good job on this stain job, maybe it is as good as can be done with this particular blade, maybe not, but we can see the pamor clearly, & in the photo I can see no unwanted colours.

It is indeed, pretty good.