i’ve done a fair share of coasters and the engrave always stands out. sometimes it’s a stark white against the dark slate, and sometimes it’s a more muted grey color, but it will always stand out if you engrave with the correct settings (ha. guess i should have said that first). i use shellac on all of my slate, too! it dries super quickly and it’s nothing too scary chemically!
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Bug poop and booze - I believe I have some of both around here
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Yeah, you have to search for the best results with each new batch of slate for sure. I read an article talking about where the best slate for lasering came from and how much the grain size, color and how it reacts to the laser can really vary. I may be remembering it wrong, but I think they said the stuff from Germany was the cream of the crop.
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How do you get the fonts to show up ? What programs will run them?
You load them into your operating system, then they show up in any application that supports fonts just like all the others.
On a Mac, you just open it (defaults to Font Book) and click the “Install font” button.
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Thanks, I’m a PC so I will hit google.
That’s the name I danced under in college. 
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I use bee’s wax which works great
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Man that Shellac is the best. I tried the mineral oil and got mixed results, but this Shellac is almost error proof. Thanks for the tip.
I am curious which one did you end up using?
Shellac hands down. On the left is the shellac. 
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What settings did you use?
Settings for non-Proofgrade materials can only be discussed in Beyond the Manual.
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if you look at the original post it has a link to where I posted the settings due to the rule that you can’t post settings here. I will note that it’s varied slightly so you can start with my settings and experiment as each piece of slate is different and your shellacking can be slightly different thickness etc.
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Thank you so much! I finally found them 
Real live fresh from the hive? Do tell! father-in-law split his hives and now has 4 I think. …maybe I could get some if so.
Well fresh from the hive it’s a bit sticky. It needs to be rinsed and free of honey. I melt it all at once and strain it for dirt, wings etc. And keep it in a block. I warm the slate in the oven and then rub the beeswax on it for it to melt on…then rub it in. I do a bunch at once.
I tried mineral oil once…and only once lol. I hated the way it came out, I almost always just use a spray lacquer now