Soapstone carving

["George Graham" <georgergraham@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Frank,
I have a question about how you teach your students to polish the Virginia
soapstone. After you sand to 600 grit, you polish the stone with a compound
using a buffer. What kind of compound and what kind of buffer do you use?

I'm carving about half lifesize nude figures that are emerging from the
rough-hewn stone. The transition from the rough to a polish skin is
dramatic, but tricky as I'm trying to leave the uncut areas clean and
toolmark free and still have the polished black figure. The finished pieces
are spectular but keeping the oil and melted wax from gumming up very rough
textures and broken faced surfaces is timeconsuming  and not always
satisfactory. Any advice you could pass on is appreciated.

As I'm on the subject of virginia soap stone, I'll give my unsolicited
opinion of this stone.  It is very strong, easy to carve, takes great detail
and you can go after it with a hammer and point without fear of it falling
apart. The options that you have regarding finishes are many. That is the
one area that I have found difficult.  Becaue of many years of working in
marble , limestone, and alabaster, I'm having to learn different skills.

Thanks a lot
George Graham