Stonewashed Mirror Polish Blade

[kjos]

I know this may seem like an oxymoron, but I have been curious if anyone has done this: stonewashed a mirror polished blade. I think that could look really nice.
If anyone has pictures, I'd love to see them.

 

[pwet]

saks are stonewashed to a pretty fine polish. depending on the media and tumbling time you can have very different finishes. or do you want a coarse stonewash on a mirror polished blade ?

 

[Noctis3880]

It might be easier to mirror polish a stonewashed blade, because then you'll be left with only the deepest scratches. Whereas a stonewash on a mirror would probably cover it completely with scratches.

 

[HwangJino]

Noctis seems right.

polishing a stonewashed blade might look tacky though, like pitting...

but I havent seen one so its all theory.

 

[flatface77]

Could be. I've taken a couple of new CS Voyagers to a near-mirror finish.

The surface texture does seem to have something like pores on one of them. The other one still shows some of the machining lines like a lot of satin finishes have. I guess I didn't go deep enough.

 

[james terrio]

The whole point of tumbling/stonewashing blades is to even out and "hide" coarse grinding/machining marks. It gives a good-looking, even finish with very little labor. Somewhat like removing a coating, polishing a stonewashed blade is likely to reveal a fairly unsightly surface.

I suppose bringing the blade up to a high polish and then tumbling it would knock off some of the glare... I'm not sure what other purpose it would serve.

 

[dkb45]

I'm thinking the OP is talking about stone washing a blade that is already mirror polished. It would only be good if the mirror finish is badly marred, or you don't like how reflective it is. Stone washing will put a new finish on the blade, and the end polish would be based on the media. Finer and smaller media will leave a more polished finish, and larger and coarser media will leave a very dull finish.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

If you've never seen a Sebenza, the finish on them looks better than any other stonewashing that I've seen.

James, your avatar kinda freaks me out. I like it.

 

[kjos]

If you've never seen a Sebenza, the finish on them looks better than any other stonewashing that I've seen.

I have a small sebenza and I'd have to agree. I have a kershaw clash that I hand mirror polished the blade and I've been thinking about stonewashing. I think it could look cool. And if it doesn't, hey, it's not such a spendy knife and then I'll know.