Slates - making plaques etc

luckilotti · Post by **luckilotti** » 26 Sep 2011, 14:47

I've just been out in the garden doing a tidy up as we have piles of rubble etc from some work we've been having done on the house and i came across some nice pieces of slate that came from a fireplace.

I would love to make a couple of little plaques with them but have some really basic silly questions :)

What paint would you use - gloss ? or can you use another type then varnish or something to make it weatherproof?

Holes - how do you drill holes through without cracking the slate?

Thanks

ready2change · Post by **ready2change** » 06 Oct 2011, 15:13

Hi
I have used masonry paint on slates to make house numbers.. But I guess gloss would work fine. You could try emulsion covered in yacht varnish.
X jane

Orfy · Post by **Orfy** » 06 Oct 2011, 16:00

Slate is soft so an ordinary masonary bit will do it. Just make sure it's well supported undeerneath and don't put too much pressure on it.

luckilotti · Post by **luckilotti** » 06 Oct 2011, 17:09

Thanks!

If i get time i'll be giving it a go at weekend :-D

Badmonkey · Post by **Badmonkey** » 06 Oct 2011, 17:58

to avoid cracking them when drilling, put some masking tape where u want to drill and ur pen/pencil mark will show up much better as well. make sure u use the right size sharp drillbit and you should be fine. good luck )t'