Sealing Slate

[Brad Patturelli]

I am a week into my laser adventures I came across some dark grey slate at the store and thought I'd give it a shot. After I used too much power the first go, I dialed it down and achieved great results My question is, should I be sealing the slate? if so, any recommendations on what to use? I plan to use as coasters.

[David Somers]

Brad,

Excellent Brad!! Pretty fun huh???

I have never tried making slate coasters, but when I have worked with Slate for counters (and also marble and granite) I seal it with 511 Slate Sealer. It soaks into the slate to prevent moisture from soaking it. On a walkway outside you dont care. On indoor floors liquid spills can show up noticeably, and certainly on a counter exposed to water and other liquids you can easily see it. This stuff works well, lasts many years, and is easy to reapply.

See if a local installer can give you a bit to play with. It does change the color a bit and I am not sure what it will do to the lased surface of your slate. I would be curious if it will increase or decrease the contrast between the engraved area and the untouched slate, or hopefully keep it all relatively the same.

[Doug Fisher]

Where did you obtain coaster-sized pieces of slate, please? I have been contemplating a project using slate for coasters.

Thanks.

[Bert Kemp]

iF YOU HAVE A floor Decor near you they have 4x4 slate and granite tiles about a half inch thick

Where did you obtain coaster-sized pieces of slate, please? I have been contemplating a project using slate for coasters.

Thanks.

[Brad Patturelli]

Michaels craft store. 4x4 about 1/4inch thick

Where did you obtain coaster-sized pieces of slate, please? I have been contemplating a project using slate for coasters.

Thanks.

[David Somers]

Hey! I just had a silly thought. If you can get a bit of sealant to play with, try a few coasters sealed and some unsealed. It struck me that for a coaster, unsealed might be better since it would be fairly absorbant. Nice on a warm summer day when your mint julep is sweating up a storm? Just at thought?

[Kev Williams]

well- what good is a coaster if the wet just rolls off onto the table?

[Doug Fisher]

Thanks for the ideas. I did some searching online and the ones with the natural/ragged edges look nice. Do you know if Floor and Decor sells with this type of edge or just the straight cut?

What speed and laser wattage have people found to work well?

Thanks!

[Brad Patturelli]

I initially went 100p and 50mm/s which was bad info from somewhere online because it didn't look good at all.
I then tried 70p and 200mm/s and it came out real nice (to me at least). Nice frosted marking. I will add a pic soon.

added some pictures of coasters I made for my wife, Red Sox was the one I did at 100p and 50mm/s. very rough and some details muddy. others look good to me, not perfect.

Thanks for the ideas. I did
some searching online and the ones with the natural/ragged edges look nice. Do you know if Floor and Decor sells with this type of edge or just the straight cut?

What speed and laser wattage have people found to work well?

Thanks!

[Doug Fisher]

Thanks for posting. I noticed the right side is lighter than the left for the lower right (Patriots) example Is that due to there being a difference in height/thickness of the slate and thus is was farther for the laser to etch? Are you using a 2" lens?

Thanks.

[Doug Fisher]

Just circling back to post hopefully helpful info for those looking find decent prices on slate coasters. I have no affiliation with this company but just received some nice looking product for a decent price by purchasing in quantity. It did take three business days for them to get the order out the door.

Lower price for large quantity but no green as of the time of this writing:
http://www.glasscoasterstore.com/sla...wholesale.html

Even though this listing says black, if you use the drop down you can find green in bundles of four:
http://www.glasscoasterstore.com/bla...-coasters.html

Larger quantity but the edges are not the nice rough and interesting edge:
http://www.glasscoasterstore.com/sla...set-of-40.html

[Doug Fisher]

Well, as I have worked my way through the stack of coasters I have to change my opinion and not recommend that company for their slate coasters. Nice prices when buying in bulk and beautiful green color but a number of the pieces are just not of good enough quality. Out of square by way too much which makes it difficult to use repeatably with a jig, gold metal shavings embedded in a few of them, major scuffing damage on a few of them, etc.