Soapstone carving

[Stonecarver001@xxxxxxx]

A set of woodcarving chisels will work but a set of steel chisels work best
depending upon what type of soapstone you have. Some folks cut out the
general shape when doing a small piece and then use rifflers. I may be biased
but that is filing not carving. If it is gray and not translucent then it
may be the steatite variety. If it is green it might be a talc. The steps I
use for carving soapstone are the same ones I use for marble or limestone.
Point, claw or tooth and then flat chisel.Sometimes I skip the tooth.  Dry
sand until you get to about 150 grit  or so and then wet sand till it starts
to shine. If you like the way it looks at this point you can leave it alone
or ...

You can heat the stone in a pan of boiling water for a while or
stick it in the oven or even a fire. When you are certain it is hot take it
out (I recommend oven mitts) and melt beeswax on it, then wipe it off while
it is still hot with a soft rag. Next step is to then dunk the stone in cold
water, dry it off and then buff. I dunk it in water for two reasons-soapstone
stays hot for a long time and if you leave it hot the wax will not leave an
even shine. For big stuff a plumber's torch works. Rub the wax on then heat
it and watch the wax melt. Gray will turn black using the hot stone and wax
method.  Another alternative to this process is Johnson's paste wax or
caranuba wax.  Some soapstone does contain asbestos fibers. Asbestos can
usually be identified by stringy looking fibers. Maybe you can track down
where it came from, most suppliers for sculpting stone will tell you that
there's is asbestos free. Good luck , Jeff Rice