Finishing Alabaster

["Susan" <zdome@xxxxxxxx>]

I have not found it necessary to warm the stone in an oven but setting the
wax in a sunny spot or warming the wax some first to soften it works well.
While I have never heated a piece to wax it and would be hesitant to do that
I have not tried applying wax to a piece which was stored out of doors, only
to ones at room temperature.  I would caution you if you like the color of
the stone to be careful which wax you use.  Clear shoe wax is good, car wax
provides a more durable finish and is also clear (I like using carnuba on my
serpentine pieces generally have not waxed the alabasters.  The key to
polishing alabaster is not in the polishing but in how you cut it in the
first place.  Alabaster is very fragile and can scar or fracture inside, due
to the transparent nature of the stone these scars are not removeable.

Using chisels designed for carving wood along with a delicate touch and
obtuse angles while cutting will avoid most of the 'problems' of finishing
the piece.  Quite a lovely finish can be obtained using varying grades of
carborundum papers or screenbak and zinc oxide as a final polish then apply
wax only if you wish more gloss.  I have also known sculptors who were
desirous of obtaining a soft matt finish with a 'glow' rather than a shine
for their alabaster pieces in those cases the final finish was a hand rubbed
oil application.  Hope this helps.