Buying slate

[pseud]

Is there a common place to purchase slate from? My LFS sells it, but it's terribly expensive...

 

[smooth_bourbon]

landscaping place. We have several all seem to have sand and gravel in the name

 

[Angry_Platy]

Go to a slate store and ask for any broken bits or offcuts. I did that a few weeks ago and walked away with so much slate it took the BF and I 5 trips to get it in from the car.....

 

[pseud]

Ok, Landscaping places and Slate stores... what exactly is a slate story AP? (I'm in the US by the way)

 

[rdd1952]

Most any landscaping material store will have slate. Look in the Yellow Pages under "Stone", "Sand" or "Landscaping Supplies".

 

[pseud]

Just called every place listed under 'landscape supplies' and 'garden center'. Nothing.

 

[SirMinion]

We bought some huge hunking lumps of plum coloured slate for peanuts from a local garden centre (equvalent to home depot I guess)

It was sold by weight and cost a fraction of the price the LFSs charge.

Where in the states are you?

Have a look at this

 

[pseud]

I think I may have found some. I have to drive a half hour to get there, but that's fine. Gonna go there tomorrow morning and check it out. They said it cost 20cents a pound, which sounds pretty cheap to me! I'll let you know.. thanks for your help.

 

[LoachLover]

I'd just go to a landscaping place, or if you live in an area where you can actually get slate out by a river or something you can do that.

 

[pseud]

Alright, the place I went to tonight instead of tomorrow morning had loads. I got three pieces, one about 20" x 8" and the other two about 12" square. All are an inch thick. Total cost? $7. Nice.

 

[pseud]

Oh, yeah, and it weighs about 33 pounds.

 

[rdd1952]

If you plan to put it in the tank as is (size) then your fine. If you try to break it into smaller pieces, be aware that slate may break anywhere. You may not get the size or shape piece you want when you hit it. If you have a pot big enough, you porbably need to boil it good to remove any bacteria.

Also, a lot of slate that is sold in my area is what I call "reclaimed" slate. It has been part of someone's patio and was torn up. It has mortar/cement residue on it which needs to be scraped off/removed as best you can. Don't know if that is the case in your area or not.

 

[pseud]

Well, I'm going to break it into smaller pieces. From past experiences, there is a way to get it to break the way you want it but then it just doesn't look right. I used a drill bit to drill a hole through it, then a screwdriver and hammer, placing the screwdriver edge in the hole, and you get an almost straight vertical break. But it doesn't look right. And I also went through two drill bits doing this cuz they broke.

Getting it to break the other way is pretty easy, just use the screwdriver and hammer method along it's edge and it breaks apart easily. You don't get the shapes you want really, but it does make it to the desired thickness pretty much all the time.

With this lot though, I think I'm just gonna drop it and see what happens! Any other suggestions for breaking it up? I'm just gonna use whatever it gives me, i'll come up with something nice.

As for cleaning it, this stuff is pretty clean, a bit of dirt on it, but I don't think it was used for paving slabs or anything. Naturally, I'll boil the pieces to get rid of bacteria.

Although, would a microwave do the same job?

 

[Fella]

Microwaving bacteria will make it grow to the size of an elephant, grow three eyes and take over new york.

In short, I think it would be safer boiling it.

 

[pseud]

Awww, come on... where's ya sense of adventure!