green stone

[Norman Watts <Norman_Watts@zzzzzzz>]

Robin,

I started this project about a year ago on a block of soapstone I
bought in Charlottesville, VA, but I quickly found the stone wasn't
reliable (inclusions, weaknesses) and it wouldn't hold an edge well
enough. I have no experience with alabaster but I imagine its too soft
as well. Just to handle it the "leafy" protrusions will have to be
quite strong, especially if I undercut quite a bit. That made me think
of marble, but I've never worked with marble either, though I read some
types are harder than others. A strong (but not beastly hard) rock of
relatively uniform green colour (and no flaws) would be nice.

Also, diamond burrs will require water to cool during cutting. Do you
know what kind of water flow one needs onto the tool, a good flow or a
fine spray? I originally got the notion of carving with a flex shaft
tool while watching a guy in Talkeetna, AK (I was coming back from an
attempt on Denali) who was making little things to sell to tourists. He
wasn't cooling at all, but then he was also only working fairly soft
stones. I bought one of his owls for my sister (I missed her wedding
while I was on the mountain).