Stone washed finish

gull wing

gull wing

Joined
May 4, 2002
Messages
2,536
I've seen some factory knives with this finish, so:
How are stone washed finishes done?
What equipment, and media are required?
How involved is the procedure?
 
I have heard of this... I believe it is more commonly called japanesse water stones. you would need to buy the stones. the stones i believe just sit in a bucket of water and form suds.. :confused: dont know how.the suds help in the polishing smoehow. The process would take lots of time :grumpy: . someone who makes oriental blades will probably chime in.
 
IIRC, the procedure involves placing blades in a tumbler with ceramic pellets or balls and tumbling the media and blades for X amount of hours. You see the end result is a scratch pattern on the blade that looks somewhat chaotic. I also remember reading that it "seals" the steel's surface and aids in corrosion resistance.(Not so sure about that part, but that's what bubbled up in my steel sieve cauldron of a memory.) :D :rolleyes:

Hope this helps.


All the best,
Mike U.
 
What Mike said.
Vibratory tumbler with fluid pumped thru it. Not one of those small ones you tumble brass shell casing with, either. Mine is .75 cu ft and hold about 50-70 pounds of ceramic media.
 
is that the finish that looks kinda like galvanized steel? ive seen this before, and found and easy way to do this, is to take semi fine grit sandpapper for a random orbital sander. it leaves a cool scratch pattern.
 
Thank you.
I thought it might be a very involved process. One that I don't think I want to get into.

The orbital sander is a good idea, I think I will try it.
 
alnother cool thing if you like mountain man and indian style knives is you can take a block of sandstone, and grind the blade on that. just use it like a japanese water stone. i found a little oil, and this polishing compound made by turtle wax(its a brick red color) really makes the finish look better, and makes polishing easier. if you move the blade in circles it leaves a circular scratch pattern, but if yougo smooth and straight it leaves a brushed aluminum type finish.
 
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