Acid stone washing an S35vn blade

Gary W. Graley

Gary W. Graley

“Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 2, 1999
Messages
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I got a wild hair to try my hand at acid stone washing a blade, a spyderco with an S35vn blade, it was far too shiny and a fingerprint magnet, so I figured what the heck, give it a try.

So...I ordered some Ferric Chloride and gathered some rocks from my neighbors driveway...he came out to see what the in the world I was doing in his driveway with a small jar and the stones, he was worried something broke and I was trying to find the pieces, but my explanation didn't sound much better ;) but he was intrigued and I said I'd show him the results later today.

went down into my basement, the jar I had for the acid I felt was too wide, and would take too much acid to fill up high enough, so being the smartypants guy that I am, I grabbed one of my small aluminum blocks I use for embossing and stuck one of those in the jar to take up some area. Then I poured in the acid and it was funny that the block started bubbling/fizzing, weird thought I, but kept on keeping on and put the blade into the jar.

Not much longer and it was REALLY bubbling/fizzing and then started to pump out like a small volcano a nasty gush of acid onto my workbench !!! I scrambled to get the blade out, tried to grab the block out as the plastic jar started to MELT and the acid flowed all over the table, YIKES and it was hot DOUBLE YIKES I was now a little concerned...lol a LOT concerned that everything was going to spontaneously combust but, fortunately the worst was over, I put the small melted jar, with the block, into a larger jar, started mopping up the mess going through a complete roll of paper towels. So a large area of my shop floor has a look of iodine spill.

So that was short lived excitement for me today, in the end it turned out ok and the blade is a lot better, for me, with this look, it will hide any future mars or dings and doesn't attract fingerprints as much, but, I certainly will think twice before I engage in such shenanigans again!!!

Good thing I didn't try it on our new dining room table or the kitchen counter...I would not be alive now to relay this tale of wonderment and woe!

The stone washing was fairly easy in comparison, sprayed some WD40 and added in some water and threw the blade in and just shook the jar and rolled it around for a few minutes, did the trick and then I took the stones back and showed my neighbor, he and his wife were impressed, or...just very kind. ;)

Here's a before shot

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

and after treatment

by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

AFTER this adventure, I decided to look up how Ferric reacts to Aluminum...duh, too busy to check that first, let this be a warning to you all ;)

G2
 
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That's a great story. One to tell the grandkids when they are older. It looks great, and I am glad that no harm came to anything during the experiment!!
 
Thanks guys, it certainly will have a tale to go along with the knife now and this S35vn sharpened back up to an excellent edge, I was concerned as it arrived with a great edge and hated to lose that, but good steel sharpens well, and well...poor steel does not ;)
G2
 
Thanks guys, this folder has been a joy to have and use, the edge was quick to put on and amazingly sharp, and the stonewash look really makes this an overall nicer looking knife, some may disagree but that's a given, it's not a look for everyone.

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

G2
 
Came out fantastic!!! You can usually expect a hiccup of some kind when engaging in new processes..
Knowledge can be painful----- physically or mentally, but is usually worth it...
Looks great and thank you for sharing your chemistry set play time with us!!
 
Thanks guys I’m glad it wasn’t being filmed at the time!
I’m sure my face was quite expressive at the time as I scrambled to stem the flow, poorly, and now I will need to paint the shop floor but it needed it
:)
G2
 
Thanks sir
I used some of my wife’s least liked nail polish to protect the pivot area and all the contact points so that they would not be etched and it worked great

A glass next time and more careful for sure!

Compared to how it looked before is a magical transformation. I was thinking of trying to coat the edge to protect it but figured it would be too tricky to get it just right and getting the edge back worked out very good
G2
 
One other thing I did was replace the clip with a short deep pocket carry one and removed the lanyard tube.
The clip is actually a Benchmade one and the holes were too small for the screws but a dremel and a diamond cone bit opened up the holes

And I carved a small bamboo pin that I inserted into the end hole and tied the lanyard around it, so the ends are narrower than the middle so the pin won’t slide out.

https://flic.kr/p/2n8nGq1

https://flic.kr/p/2n8hgRF

G2
 
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In addition, I would work outside where there is more fresh air and a larger area to run. ;)
Your mods always look great, and are an improvement!
Love the great pictures.
 
My first use of Ferric Chloride (FeCl3) was in grade school summer-school electronics as copper etchant for project circuit boards we made (copper sheet laminated to fiberglass backer board).

That aluminum, you used, probably helped increase the temperature of the Ferric Chloride (FeCl3) via relatively immediate exothermic reaction (along with your intended reduction in the volume of container).
Aluminum is high on the FeCL3 list of Do's and Don'ts (on the Don't side). Some info at link below.

When etching steel, I find the FeCl3 works more quickly when pre-heated. Also, when dissolved into water.

When etching knife blades, I find the results increase stiction when cutting (both from increased surface area and iron oxide deposition/residual). Many folks careless about the performance detraction as have more interest in appearance factors.

Project photos look Great !!
Even though I typically don't do lanyards, I like your use of bamboo to create a CRK style lanyard post ;-)

Do's & Don'ts Ferric Chloride
 
Thanks for the link and the etch on this blade is fairly smooth fortunately. I have ordered the larger version Resilence and think that I might also do that one too. But I’ll be way more careful!
G2
 
Gary,
I am sure you know this already ..., protect all contact surfaces with a resistant from the etchant (blade pivots, lock surfaces, stop-pin contacts, detent ball tracks, bevels, etc.).

OMG ..., the number of user-modded knives I have seen and/or had in for work, etc., that were virtually destroyed by not protecting critical surfaces is close to 100%. Blade play, sloppy locks, gritty closing/opening action, etc.
 
I cleaned the blade throughly and applied fingernail polish to all the areas that need protection but it is good to reiterate that warning
Thanks
G2
 
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