polishing slate

[hedgerow pete]

i have dug out an old slate fire surround, its coverd in paint and the usual 50 years of debre, so i have cleaned the paint off but how do you go about sanding and polishing the stone,

ok so i dont want see your face reflextion but i do want it to go back to its almost black dark blue sheen

is it like wood just different grades of sand paper, i was thinking wet and dry and a bucket of water.

is linseed oil still used to polish or is there another form of polish to use

 

[coffin dodger]

Hi,
I hate to say it on this forum but beeswax is very good for black slate, well it worked well for me on a couple of the old slate clocks.
Regards
Ray

 

[SER]

It depends alot on the individual slate but you'll be amazed at the finish you can get with wet and dry.
It'll take a while, use plenty of water and don't start too coarse or you'll do more harm than good.

 

[The Cumbrian]

It depends alot on the individual slate but you'll be amazed at the finish you can get with wet and dry.
It'll take a while, use plenty of water and don't start too coarse or you'll do more harm than good.

Difficult to say without seeing it but by the description it sounds like Welsh slate (not unlikely in the Midlands). MY experience is with cutting semi precious stone which is much harder. The harder they easier/better polish.

However the general principle of stone polishing is start off coarse and move progressively to finer abrasives. With something as soft (compared to say quartz) as slate I would not start with a very rough abrasive otherwise you will spend a long time polishing out the scratches the first made.

The standard (certainly in the "old days" a few decades ago was silicone carbide grit on a felt lap (circular motorised pad). Different lap for each grit and finishing with either aluminium oxide power or Cerium oxide.

Having said that slate in the Lake District is often/generally finished with a wax polish because it doesn't take a polish very well without.

I know the reference I am going to give you is about tumble polishing but the general principle is the same. If working with "wet & dry" I would certainly have a backing block to prevent making the surface uneven.

Have a read at

http://www. thegemden. co.uk/tumble. htm (remove blanks for a workable link) it may give you an idea.

 

[For want of a better word]

My gran used "Elbow Grease"... but I have never ever found a tin of it... even sent the SWMBO into Trewarthers in Kellywick to buy a tin... said they had never heard of it!

 

[region2]

Have a read at

http://www. thegemden. co.uk/tumble. htm (remove blanks for a workable link) it may give you an idea.

I'm confused - is there a rule on here that I don't know about which says you cannot have links in posts?

Here's that link for those that want to be able to click on it without messing about - http://www.thegemden.co.uk/tumble.htm

R2
ps. I had one of those tumble polishers as a kid - still got the shiny stones in jar somewhere...

 

[The Cumbrian]

I'm confused - is there a rule on here that I don't know about which says you cannot have links in posts?

Here's that link for those that want to be able to click on it without messing about - http://www.thegemden.co.uk/tumble.htm

R2
ps. I had one of those tumble polishers as a kid - still got the shiny stones in jar somewhere...

As far as I am aware there is a rule which says no advertising and many links get starred out as a result. I was trying to avoid that.

 

[region2]

..and therein lies the rub - some forum members are frightened to put any links in case they get censored. Please read the rules and you'll realise that there's no embargo on links - just a rule against self promotion by sellers...

R2