craft project with slate

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I posted this question a few days ago but it never appeared. Hope it wasn't deleted for being "suspicious" Maybe I just didn't do it correctly. In any case, I have obtained some pieces of slate from a local quarry with the idea of making painted plaques as X-mas gifts. I was wondering if I could get some info on how to trim the pieces to certain sizes and shapes. Also, will simple house paint be OK or do I have to apply a glaze, etc? Thanks

-- teresa (teresam@ascent.net), November 17, 2001

Answers

just smack it with a hammer,, you will get all kinds of shapes. BUt if your looking for a paricular shape,,,, try chipping at the edges. My mother used her craft paints on slate,, its not the same as house paint, not sure if it would work or not,, but thats what she uses. A glaze or polyurathene wo9uld only be needed if it would be outside

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), November 19, 2001.

At your local hardware store - usually in the tile section - you will find various saw blades used for cutting tiles (I think they are either diamond or carbide encrusted - I stand to be corrected). You should find ones that fit jig saws and others to fit hacksaws. I used both for cutting natural floor slate - needed to cut around toilet flanges and the like. The jigsaw blade was quite easy to use when cutting curves. The slate cut amazingly fast and the blades last a long time - a lot longer than I imagined and the blades were pretty cheap too. If you were cutting oval or round shaped plaques, you would have no problem using the jigsaw blade.

I hope that this is of some help. Actually, I have some roofing slate around my house and maybe I could try to make a few Christmas gifts too. Thanks for the "tweak"

Sean

-- Sean (seand@mail.gov.nf.ca), November 19, 2001.


Any kind of acrylic paint will work and you can spray it with a clear acrylic spray made by Kyrlon. I'm an art teach and my students have had a lot of success painting rocks in this manner. Sally

-- (mallardhen67@hotmail.com), November 19, 2001.

You could probably also use plain latex housepaint--the "craft paint" supposedly has more or better pigment, but for a background color, just buy a quart or gallon of housepaint, and just tint it whatever color you want if you can't buy it ready-mixed. Just put about 1/2 inch of water over the leftover in the can, and put the lid on tight. Stir well when you use it again.

Exterior housepaint is made to be used outside, so I don't think you'd need a glaze unless you want a little shine.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), November 19, 2001.


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