I wanted to make a slate coaster as a Valentine’s gift for my daughter, but I don’t have any mineral oil. Sooo…I do have Tung Oil (100% pure, avoid those thinned with flammable stuff) and so I gave it a try. The result looks great to me and the Tung Oil should cure and harden. Hmmm.
Apply the Tung Oil lightly and let it sit at least overnight.
Engraved at 900 speed, 30 power, Vary Power, 270 LPI.
I’ll let it sit and cure now without messing with the image.
I used to work in a foundry and we made a lot of thick slate bases for sculptures.
We would cut and grind them fairly smooth but not polished and then put a coat of plain artist’s linseed oil on them. It dries nice and hard and leaves the slate looking very black.
I’ll let you all know how it looks when cured. I gave that one to my daughter last night. I coated more this morning, so will give an update after these cure in about 24 hours.
It took days to fully cure and it seemed to ooze a bit in the process, so I had to wipe it a time or two. This means that you have to prepare them in advance. You don’t want to use them while curing. The one I did the first night lost some of the crisp lines probably due to Tung Oil oozing into the etch a little.
This is how it looks after letting it cure a few days and then etching.
As for mineral oil, no residue that I’ve seen. I wipe it on as lightly as I can, wait about 5 mins, then wipe it down. Worked pretty well, but I don’t think I get the same contrast as you do. It’s always so hard to tell with photos. I went with mineral oil based on recommendations here, and it’s so easily sourced (any pharmacy has it), I just went for it.
