Tumble scales

[loglew]

Has anyone ever tumbled their ti scales in a dry media tumbler? Wondering if it would create a stonewash look.

 

[atony]

Been done by several. You can do a "poor man's stonewash" with a plastic jar, rocks, and a little WD-40 or soap and water, provides pretty good results.

 

[Nafunu]

I stonewashed a fake Sebenza. Yes, I know, start flaming me. Anyway, the finish came out fairly good, but not good enough that I'd do it to one of my real Chris Reeve knives.

From what I've read, I would get better results if I used larger ceramic media, instead of the relatively small 2cm media that I have. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find better media where I live, and it's ridiculously expensive to ship it up here. I also tried using 1-2 inch river rocks, but wasn't able to get good results.

• Stonewashing a fake Sebenza
• Stonewashing a fake Sebenza Part 2 <-- close-up results photos here
• Stonewashing a fake Sebenza Part 3 <-- comparison photos here

The finish doesn't show up very well (AKA I'm not a very good photographer), and it's not as strong a stonewash finish as the Spyderco Southard (which has a fairly strong stonewash finish on the titanium handle scale).

 

[atony]

To get a really bright finish you almost need to Scotch Brite it first then tumble it. If you find that you do not like the finish, reblast it and it will look like it did before.

 

[loglew]

I don't want shine...just a worn look.