Soap Stone

[rd_ab_penman]

I have always thought if I could get my hands on a good sized piece of Soap Stone I would try turning some pens. Has anyone out there ever tried Soap Stone? I thought it might be to soft, but Soap Stone carvings seem to be fairly hard.

Les

What's YOUR Carbon Footprint?

 

[arioux]

Hi Les,

You might want to look at these site:

http://www.woodturningonline.com/Turning/Turning_content/turning_soapstone.html

Might want to try alabaster

http://www.maxkrimmel.com/Alabaster/HowToPart1/HowTo1.html

Alfred

 

[mrcook4570]

I've made pens out of soapstone. The biggest problem is drilling. I learned the hard way that blanks must be way oversized, otherwise they will crack, crumble, and explode from the pressure of drilling.

 

[tnilmerl]

Take a look at http://www.exoticvessels.com/. This guy has several videos on you tube. Very AWESOME. Segmented soapstone turning.

 

[DocRon]

I also have turned a few soapstone pens. One trouble is hidden flaws in the stone. Turning is mostly scraing and sanding. You musr drill very slowly,clearing the dust from the hole OFTEN. Very dusty, wear your face mask or respirator. REsults are good, but the pens are abit heavy - probably mak a beter desk set than a pocket pen.