When I got my Yora CNC Carving Machine 3018-Pro, one of the first upgrades I got was the 5.5W Yora Laser Module.
Excited to try out different materials with it, I soon discovered that slate would become one of my favourite raw materials to use.
Here in the UK, we see slate as a regular building material in areas such as the Lake District, Snowdonia, and the Yorkshire Dales, with gorgeous little cottages being built from this stunning natural material.
In other areas, slate has been used as a roofing material. I had Welsh Blue Slate on my house in Yorkshire many years ago.
And, you only need to look at any home furnishings store such as Ikea, The Range, Pottery Barn and so on, to see the versatility of slate the way it can be used for signage, tableware and so on.
Well, why? What makes slate so good?
Slate is a fine-grained, clayey metamorphic rock that splits, into thin slabs that have great tensile strength and durability. Slate can appear as black, blue, purple, red, green, or grey. Dark slates usually owe their colour to carbonaceous material or finely divided iron sulphide. Reddish and purple varieties owe their colour to the presence of hematite (iron oxide), and green varieties owe theirs to the presence of chlorite, a green micaceous clay mineral.
My enthusiasm and eagerness get the better of me on a regular basis. I’m afraid, however, my first attempts with slate were to me and my customer at least, successful.
Originally published at https://yorahome.com on February 28, 2021.
