Really fantastic work! Can you let us know the steps of turning this material?
OK.
First a caveat. Whenever I have mentioned how to work with soapstone, then the thread
always gets hijacked by some folks with warning horror stories about how dangerous it is because soapstone contains asbestos. So people.... don't. OK.
Let me make it clear that
some soapstone, notably
some from California,
may contain tiny amounts of asbestos. (Note my italics).
Secondly, the dust that comes off when working it is Talc. That's the stuff that you buy in a can (with no health warning) at the drug store and liberally shake in the air over a baby's backside or over your body after a shower. It is not dangerous. Anyway, when you work with soapstone making the dust, it is heavy dust, and it drops down in a pile or gathers in the groove of your turning gouge.
Cutting the blanks to size: with a saw. Any saw. Just as you would with an acrylic. (I use one of those Japanese "pull" saws, only because I use it for everything). It saws really easily. (Nothing different from any other pen blank)
Drilling: Any type of drill. I drill at around 750rpm. Do not use water or any other lubricant. Soapstone is self lubricating. I drill holes up to 7/16" straight in. Larger holes, use a 3/8" drill first as a pilot. Soapstone drills easier than acrylic or dense woods. (Nothing different from any other pen blank). You
may be able to get away with a drill one size smaller than usual, so try that first.
You can get away with a large hole in a small blank! That's a great big 37/64" drill, with not a lot of material around the hole. (This is drilling in the lathe, but I have no worries about using the pillar drill either)
That's the other end of the blank that I drilled in the lathe. Taking it steady there is virtually no break out.
Glueing: I use thick CA. I first put some around in the inside of the non-insertion end of the hole in the blank, then on the roughened tube, and twist and push and pull the tube inside the blank quite a lot to make sure that it is well covered. You have plenty of time.
End trimming: Whatever you do now with acrylic or wood. I use an end mill. (Nothing different from any other pen blank. See the pattern arising here?)
Turning: I usually mount it up with bushes on a mandrel, and then file off the corners with a big rough rasp before mounting it on the lathe. You can be quite rough with it. It won't break. I turn it using a big full size roughing gouge. (Actually I turn all pen blanks with a big full size roughing gouge). Cover the bed of the lathe and the banjo with a cloth to catch the dust when it falls. Turning speed is about 1000rpm to 1200 rpm.
Turn it down to about 1/16" oversize. (More material left than with wood or acrylic). It turns slower than acrylic or wood, taking two or three times longer, but it turns easily. Sand down to just oversize with 80 grit. I use a strip of sandpaper held in both hands wrapped behind the back of the blank. I use a strip held that way as it keeps the blank parallel).
It sands fast and easily! Then sand with strips of 120grit, 240, 500, 800. (They all take off material fast, so a couple of seconds sanding takes off enough to remove scratches from the previous grit. All that sanding is done dry. Important... don't leave it oversize on the bushes. If anything, it needs to be a couple of thousandths of an inch smaller than the pen components. You do
not want it standing proud of the metal on the finished pen, because that would be inviting a chip when the pen is in use.
Change to micromesh used
well wetted with water. Use the full range of grades, a few seconds with each, up to 12,000 grit. Finish with Hut plastic polish (the white creamy stuff) to get a final polish. (I use it on a strip of safety cloth, held under the blank with the tip of my forefinger). Finally, with the lathe still turning, I apply a little paste wax (furniture wax) on a safety cloth, for a final polish.
In making over 50 pens with soapstone, I have never had one break, blow out or shatter. It is friendly stuff. I wouldn't use it on cheap pens, or those with a tiny amount of material left on the tube, but I have used it successfully with the Sierra, elegant beauty, Junior Gent and the larger pens.
Rod