Matte finish on stones

Hi Everyone, I’m getting ready to go to Tucson and wondering if
anyone knows of any suppliers of matte finish gemstone beads. I did
a search and cannot find much. BTW, how is that finish achieved? It
looks something like the finish on beach glass.

I’m sorry to say I can’t go to the dinner but I was thinking it
might be nice if Orchid folks put an orchid sticker, even a simple
drawing on one, on their badges. The orchid pin would be better but
we don’t all have them. So, say hello if you see a badge with an
orchid.

The matte finish is actually pretty easy. I do it all the time. The
best way I’ve found is to start with a polished or very near
polished surface. This is going to be done dry.

Use an expanding drum with resin belts and get some diamond paste.
It depends on what kind of finish you want which grit size paste
will be best. You also need extender which is the oil base that is
in the paste.

I sometimes use 180 grit which is pretty tricky because it cuts as
well, or 260 which also cuts or 325 or 400 or 600. You have to
decide the fineness of the finish you want. Then it takes a very
light touch and adjustment for direction of texture from the grit.
It actually helps quite a lot that the belt is broken in. This takes
time and repeated applications and distribution of the paste.

Thinking about it, I guess I’d have to say it’s easy now, but it
does take some work and practice to get to that point.

Derek Levin

Beverly They usually call that frosted finish and it is often used on
the Quartz family. From what I have heard some use and acid etch and
other use sand blasting techniques.

Karen Bahr “the Rocklady” (@Rocklady) K.I.S. Creations
May your gems always sparkle.