Need help stonewashing a blade with a handle on

Outdoor Gear Dad

Outdoor Gear Dad

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Jun 1, 2019
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Was just finishing up a knife for a customer and realized they wanted the blade acid stonewashed. The stabilized maple burl handle is already on and rough shaped but I have hand sanded the handle yet.

Am I wrong in thinking I could tape up the handle, acid wash it, and then drop it in the tumbler?
 
I would consider making a sacrificial "test blade" - just a piece of steel with some similar handle material attached in a similar method and run it through the process first.

Good luck.
 
It won't work... You will get an area bear the handle that is untouched by the stones. You will need to remove the scales with heat probably, then after its etched you can do the glue up
 
I do this all the time with Micarta and G10, turns out great. No issues whatsoever. Tang and blade get fully stonewashed when I do it. Not sure how the wood would react to the acid though.
 
I guess it depends how picky you are. I'm anal about my knives being perfect lol
 
Winkler etches and stonewashes his knives when the handles are on. At least he used to before switching to caswell (not sure what he does now). I believe he used nail polish to avoid and protect and areas he didn’t want exposed to ferric.

Good to know it’s possible, thank you for being a guinea pig!
 
I etch and stonewash with handles on. If your media has some small bits they will "stonewash" up to the front of the handle and everything will look even. Its the easiest way to get the spine stonwashed too.
 
I went ahead and took one for the team. Threw the whole blade in ferric then dropped it into the tumbler. No tape, nothing. Came out great and consistent with not damage whatsoever to the wood!

Photo please. Always think it’s funny looking when blade is stonewashed and handle area is shiny, but that’s usually what happens when you finish handles after stonewashing.
 
I too would like to see some photos. I hate having to put a satin spine and tang on a stonewashed blade. I can relate to REK Knives REK Knives about being a perfectionist. I have a tendency to set standards for myself that are unrealistically high and unachievable, but if this works, I'd way rather have a fully stonewashed blade even if it means the stonewash isn't 100% even towards the ricasso area.
 
Here's what will happen in the corners (see the plunge area) - if you have a handle on the area right at the scales will not have the stonewash go to the very corner. note: this is not my work, but is a pic of a blade someone sent to me.

i-N4NJjX7-S.jpg
 
Alright so I couldn’t figure out how to post a picture of the results but here is the instagram post:

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Now mind you, I am not and never will
Be shooting for a perfectly finished knife. I make a heavy use outdoor Bushcraft knife. So none of my knives are perfect. But it came out great and customer was happy!
 
Seems to me that a stonewash will do fine with scales already on, cause that knife looks good to me, but an acid wash is dark enough to really show where the tumbling media didn't touch
 
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