Soapstone?

Ryan Mooney

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
8,103
Location
The Gorge Area, Oregon
Firstly: does anyone know of a reasonable source for soapstone.. I have a project that's chewing at the back of my eyes that would benefit from some small (say 1" by 2") pieces.

Secondly: Anyone here turned this stuff? My plan was to use scrapers and go slow on the cutting, but any specific suggestions are certainly helpful.

I'll be turning "thimble shaped objects" (not actually thimbles, although I could hmm I bet grandma would LOVE a thimble..) anyway, I was thinking order of operations like:

  1. drill the inside under sized on the drill press
  2. jam chuck it on the just drilled hole to get it round but oversized on the outside
  3. flip it back over and ?chuck? it carefully (maybe another homemade jam chuck) to finish the inside
  4. finally flip back over, re-chuck it on a new jam chuck sized to the inside finish dimensions and finish turn the outside

The reasoning behind so many flips is to try to keep as much material supporting it at each step.

Thoughts/suggestions/pointers welcome.
 
Ryan,
This place here in Va claims to be the only soapstone quarried in the US. They make counter tops etc.They will send you a sample pack for $15 and give a number to call if you have specific requests. Their samples might be thick enough for turning purposes. Another place on their website talks about soapstone carving class, but says they won't ship? Wouldn't hurt to ask.
http://www.alberenesoapstone.com/contact-alberene-soapstone
I have carved soapstone before, but I wouldn't trust any of the stuff (Alaskan) I carved on a lathe. Maybe this Virginia stuff would be different.
I've also seen very thick stove tops from this place. They might have samples too.
http://www.greenmountainsoapstone.com/homeowner/index.php
 
All my stuff came out of Montana. Turns like baby powder and some of it is known to have asbestos. I did a pen from the rose stuff I have and found out the hard way that unlike wood, it has no ability for expansion! Plan ahead and keep plenty of thin CA on hand.
 
n old friend who has passed had a small quary on his property which has since been deemed no mans land behind homes. No one knows it's back their and I've been thinking of taking a walk to get some myself. But not till it warms up . You can get big rocks and small. 35-40 pounders laying around. Dark Green / Black color tones
 
n old friend who has passed had a small quary on his property which has since been deemed no mans land behind homes. No one knows it's back their and I've been thinking of taking a walk to get some myself. But not till it warms up . You can get big rocks and small. 35-40 pounders laying around. Dark Green / Black color tones

My friend, you have been holding out on me!!!;)
 
n old friend who has passed had a small quary on his property which has since been deemed no mans land behind homes. No one knows it's back their and I've been thinking of taking a walk to get some myself. But not till it warms up . You can get big rocks and small. 35-40 pounders laying around. Dark Green / Black color tones

I'll be right up Dave.
 
35-40 lbs is MUCH larger than any I need at this time :D

I found a small supplier out of Southern OR that is selling smaller pieces (2x2x4 and 3x4x6 ish) for somewhat reasonable prices on ebay and am considering placing an order there (or could just you-know buy the whole mine http://us.businessesforsale.com/us/...-Southern-Oregon-Soapstone-Mine-For-Sale.aspx haha no!).

It turns out there are small quarries and outcroppings in both Oregon and Washington but actually getting stone from the quarries in non-truckload sizes is unlikely and finding the outcroppings is somewhat difficult. There are some self collecting areas "in the region" (although wenatchee is about 3:30 away): http://www.nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/the-stone-corner?start=9 - I haven't found any easy to get to locations in oregon for self collecting.
 
Ted we get a warming spell your welcome to talk a walk. I have a deer cart to haul the stones out. Its a small site abandoned when stoves didn't need linners any longer.
Looks like I'll be pulling orders lol
 
I have turned several things out of soap stone. Use to get my pieces from a Supplier in Calif. http://www.stonesculptorssupplies.com/ although it looks like they just sell supplies/tools now. It is very brittle and easy to break when it is thin. You can put the pieces back together with thin CA glue and proceed. Most cases you won't even see where it broke. Easy to turn but knock of the edges first. It produces a talc as you turn and I'd advise good dust(talc) collection. It is messy.

Pieces cut easily on a band saw also.
 
Last edited:
Well I got a box-o-rocks on the doorstep last night. Thanks for all the advice and feedback everyone! We shall see how it goes, probably get a chance to cut into them later this week sometime. They're pretty soft alright (like fingernail soft) so hopefully will be a gentle introduction.
 
Top