I have tried stonewashing a couple of knives with and without acid etching them first. I am getting a decent finish, but I'm not totally happy with it. It looks good at first glance, and great when it's wet. But when you dry it off and examine it more closely, it looks sort of scratched up. If you tilt the knife back and forth under light, the small scratches catch the light and stand out because they are so shiny. I'm just screwing around with some very low tech methods. I've got some rocks from the creek and a plastic container. I either shake the rocks around for a while with the knife parts or duct tape the container up and toss it in the dryer (it's pretty ghetto I know 
). So is the kind of "scratched up" look I'm getting normal for a stonewash finish (I've never actually seen a factory stonewash finish). Or should I try some different media? I have seen references to ceramic tumbling media or some such in other posts on the forums. Or is the motion of shaking the container too agressive? The pictures and videos of other people's homemade stonewash finishes don't look like this, but I think the cameras may just not capture such fine detail.
). So is the kind of "scratched up" look I'm getting normal for a stonewash finish (I've never actually seen a factory stonewash finish). Or should I try some different media? I have seen references to ceramic tumbling media or some such in other posts on the forums. Or is the motion of shaking the container too agressive? The pictures and videos of other people's homemade stonewash finishes don't look like this, but I think the cameras may just not capture such fine detail.