The Complete Online Guide to Knifemaking, STONEWASHED FINISH

 A stonewashed finish is created by acid etching the blade. This is usually done in ferric chloride. After the blade has been etched its neutralized, which can be done with a mixture of baking soda. For the stone washed texture the blade is then inserted into a tumbler. We converted an inexpensive Harbor freight rock tumbler into a stonewash knife tumbler. This easy DIY project is detailed in the how-to video posted above.

Please note that acid etched and stone washed blade are often used in conjunction with removable scale hardware. This is because many knifemakers finish profiling handle material after attaching scales to the blade. With acid or stonewashed blades this would also polish off the etched finish. By using removable scale hardware the handles can be completely finished and then the blade etched and stone washed prior to final handle assembly.

Check out our Knife making tools, huge assortment of topic specific how-to knife making videos, our Complete Online Guide Knife Making  and our New Book Introduction to Knifemaking by Dan Berg and Jason Northgard.