How Brushing Stones Works

A big THANK YOU to Dennis (aka The Rhinestone Mechanic) for allowing us to share his great information!

Lately it seems like a lot of conversations on different stones and difficulty stoning templates. In the files section is my STONE SIZER template. ALL STONES ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL. - Chinese, Korean, Eastern European, DMC, Glass, Acrylic - the variety is endless. You should test every batch of stones you get - even if it is from the same supplier. Mark on the container the hole dimension that brushed in the best for each batch. If your holes are sized correctly, you will save frustration when you are stoning your templates. I would rather do 15 minutes of prep work than waste hours of tearing my hair out a month from now.
Someone stated that they couldn't brush multiple stones sizes in one template - that is FALSE - you can - it does takes practice, a soft hand and lots of stones. You use the larger stones first and move down to the smaller stones. IF your template holes are sized correctly, a properly placed stone will stay while other stones of a smaller size are brushed around it. AND the larger stones will not fall into the smaller holes.
If you use a custom designer-communicate your hole sizes at the beginning of the design process. If you do not, you will get a template with what our "common" stone size is or have additional fees when you ask the template to be resized.
I have said it numerous times - continue to ask questions. Everyone on here has faced the same challenges as you are right now. There are no stupid questions - this is how we as a Facebook community learn and share knowledge. Have a great Day and Stone On!!!

Dennis Cheatham

The Rhinestone Mechanic