Transferring design

Quoted text begins.RE: oiling surface of slate after letters are cut
End of quote.

Karen & all;

I'd avoid mineral oil - it has no driers in it so will always bleed,
albeit as time passes the bleeding will be less and less. Linseed oil
will work better, whether raw or boiled (I prefer the boiled myself - it
dries a bit faster). Just be sure to wipe all the excess off before the
surface starts to feel tacky or sticky (fifteen to thirty minutes). If
it seems too thick it can be thinned with turpentine to reduce the
viscosity (and the drying time). This finish works great on darker
soapstones to reveal the depth of the color, but it might take several
applications to get the maximum richness.
In woodworking there is an old saying about applying a linseed oil
finish: Once a day for week, once a week for a month, once a month for a
year, and once a year for the rest of your life.

I don't do lettercarving often, but I do incised and relief work in slate
at times. Usually I use Akemi or Tenax polishing fluid on the surface,
wiping it off as soon as the surface is completely covered. These two
very similar products do bleed slightly into the incised areas, but
unlike oil they dry rapidly. Going back in with the chisel and scraping
the bleed off can be done in less than fifteen minutes or so and you
don't need to worry about any further bleed. In cold weather you might
want to wait half an hour or so to make sure it has dried completely
before scraping.
Unfortunately in the last couple of years Tenax has discontinued their
clear polishing fluid product and replaced it with a milky liquid wax
that works doesn't work as well . . . why they replaced it I don't know
(probably causes cancer in rats), but as of late last year the Akemi was
still available.

A friend of mine who works mostly in marble is a
Lettercarver/Calligrapher/Graphic Designer and he recommends using the
furniture polish "Liqud Gold" for deepening the color intensity of the
slate surface. I am not sure how it does on the bleeding aspect
however, because the lettering was gold leafed on the particular piece we
were discussing.

Good Carving to you;

Don
http://www.dondougan.homestead.com/indexdd.html