I tend to buy quartz crystals from ebay, and they're usually polished, cut and shiny. The thing is, I like my saber crystals with a bit of a rough edge to them. I find they glow better when illuminated when they have flaws and inclusions and rough patches.
I've been trying to google for ideas on how to rough up quartz a bit, but most of my google searches just get results for new age "crystal healing" stuff, (about how to "spiritually heal" broken crystals) or guides on how to polish crystals and gemstones with rough edges, which is the opposite of what I'm looking for.
So, I was wondering what my fellow sabersmiths do.
I'm familiar enough with the tools used to shape quartz. I usually have to break out my dremmel's diamond wheel to cut them to fit in the first place, and I've used high grit wet and dry sandpapers to dull them a bit so they glow better. I've also used the "fried marble" technique (heat the crystal, then quench it in water) to get some interesting cracks inside the crystal.
Any ideas?