Stonewashing a knife. Anyone tried it?

Matt1911 · Jul 11, 2014

I'm always looking for projects to do at home and been thinking of doing a stonewash finish on my Spyderco Tenacious.
Been looking on blade forums and youtube and it seems like a really easy project using river rocks, WD40, and a gatorade bottle.

Has anyone here tried it out?
I'd like to know the process you used and would like to see some pics of the results before I jump in to try it out.

Matt1911 · Jul 26, 2014

Well. I went for it. Not only did I stoneware it, but I also did a Ferric Chloride bath on it to darken the blade to a nice looking gray color before the stone wash.
I think it turned out great.
Spent about 30 minutes getting the blade back to shaving sharp since the stonewash dulled it up quite a bit.
Whatcha think of it?

Before and after pics.

Matt1911 · Jul 26, 2014

Next project is to get some olive drab micarta and make some custom scales for it to get it looking like this.

dennishoddy · Jul 26, 2014

So, the process basically dulls the bright finish if I'm seeing it right?

Is the knife stainless?

Matt1911 · Jul 26, 2014

It's 8cr13mov steel.
The Ferric Chloride dulls the color and the stonewash gives it a rough finish instead of it being a smooth color.

dennishoddy · Jul 26, 2014

Cool. Hard to tell the final finish from the pics.

I've had a heck of a time finding a way to get rid of the residue in my steel challenge .22 gun comp. Since it came from Volquartsen, I finally called them to see what they recommend.

They said a 50-50 mix of Hydrogen peroxide and white vinegar for the stainless comp.

Not trying to derail your thread, but it turned out a similar finish to the comp that was shiny before and kind of cool looking grey after what I can see in the pics of your knife.