Bill the facts I stated are from my experience using soapstone... I (and a lot of others I have read) found that it is a difficult material to make a pen out of, especially a slimline style.....it has a tendency to blow off the blanks if the cuts taken are not extremely light. The residue is dust.. it looks just like talc... and it get over everything...
I never stated that soapstone was porous... I said I used CA to harden the material and then sand it to 12000 with MM..
My reason for stating that I did not think it would make a good centerband is the fact that it breaks so easily... and the constant rubbing and pressure from opening and closing the pen might cause it to fracture, especially since on a floating centerband there is rarely a brass tube..
When finished as a pen... a hard bump or drop will most likely cause a chip to fly off, if the pen does not shatter completely...
So far I have made 5 soapstone pens that have survived the lathe unscathed (4 others did not)... of those 2 are still in one piece.. the others were accidentally dropped or otherwise chipped (one chipped on an edge while putting the top on)...
Soapstone also makes a heavy pen for it's size... something else to remember when choosing the kit you want to make... I would not want to carry a Cigar pen made from soapstone...