Settings for Engraving on Slate

Thank you for all of the advice on settings and stuff. I made this Alice in Wonderland coaster set.

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That last one is one of my favorite sayings! Great job on them! :grinning:

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Thank you so much for sharing Jules! These settings worked perfectly :smiley:

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Oh good! Glad it worked! :grinning:

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Loving these settings!

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Ok, I know I made a mistake on the text, but I tried 60 power and it doesn’t look as nice. So 30 power wins

60 left. 30 right

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Here are some interesting results and a question.

Why do people use the mineral oil?

The following was done without oil

I noticed that at 30 power, it’s not engraving, its exciting the surface and raising it up. It scratches off. Here I scratched off the top line of text.

At full power and 600 speed it actually cuts into the slate. The 2 circles were testing full power and 500 speed on the left, and full power 1000 speed on the right.
Enough that you can color it.

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It enhances the contrast between the slate and engraving.

Wipe it on and let it dry (overnight is fine), then engrave.

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Real thin coat though, more is not better and is actually worse. Just wipe on, wipe off.

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But my mineral oil is getting absorbed. Its food grade with vitamin E (butcher block oil). Maybe not the right stuff?

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I’m going to try shellac over first.

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Mmmmmm, bug poop

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Bug guts! And alcohol!

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Forget mineral oil on slate! Use shellac! You can also use a belt sander on the slate to smooth it out a bit before the shellac. Look at that contrast

Speed 900
Power 60
Lines 270

Sanded/shellac

Unsanded/shellac

Engraved at settings above

One in progress

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Looks like I need to get my belt sander setup again.

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This is sweet looking!

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How’s it look like it handles abrasions? Does the shellac scratch & show white streaks?

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No. Shellac also melts into itself. So a dab of shellac would rejuvenate it

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more slate…

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That looks fantastic. I especially like the way the right side fades into the background. :grinning:

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