Soapstone carving

[Cdreyfus@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Hi there.  I have been carving about a year and my mom about 30 years.  Mostly
working with Soapstone from the Maryland area, although sadly, I cannot find a
current source in Maryland anymore.  For polishing we have used Johnson's Paste
Wax, and we have not heated the stone before waxing and polishing.  It turns out
quite nicely if the stone has been sanded well.  This works on other stone like
alabaster, and marble and wood equally well.

For carving I am using mostly chisels, heavy rifflers or rasps, and then finer
and finer rasps--then sanding.  Sometimes I use a dremel, but not often, as I
feel I have more control with the hand tools.  I have discovered that it is
fairly easy to add pieces on to the sculpture using epoxy mixed with the
soapstone dust.  For instance I made a heron and added the beak on the front of
the face, clamped it on overnight with the epoxy and then finished the finer
carving the next day.  Worked beautifully and unless I mention it, people do not
even notice it has been attached.

The soapstone is great to carve, comes in huge variety of colors.  Of course if
you can find a source near you, you will not need to pay an arm and a leg for
shipping.   Sounds like you have a windfall at your college already.

Good luck to you.