Kingston Limestone

["Kloster, Stephen" <Stephen.Kloster@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello Everyone,

I have done a bit of carving in soapstone, and I would like to try my hand
at a harder stone, but something which does not require power tools. Since I
live in Kingston, Ontario Canada ( known as the limestone city ) I thought
that I may be able to pick up some limestone locally very cheaply. However
the few small pieces of limestone I have collected all seem to be quite
hard. I don't have any previous experience with limestone as a basis for
comparison, so I'm not sure if this is unusually hard for limestone or not.

I have heard of carvers not too far from here using Indiana limestone, so
maybe the local stuff is just not suitable. Does anyone have any insight
into the characteristics of this area? Is there a deposit of suitable
carving stone anywhere near me? Alternatively, can anyone recommend a
supplier in southern Ontario of carve-able limestone?
I don't want to spend a lot of money on this experiment, but then I also
don't want to decide that limestone isn't for me based on a stone that
no-one in his right mind would have tried to carve in the first place.

Thanks for your attention,
Steve Kloster