How To Cut Soapstone By Hand

Pour a small amount of your oil in your hand and rub the oil all over the carving.

How to cut soapstone by hand. This is for pipestone catlinite. Cut 34 inch down on a 1 12-inch thickness soapstone slab then return to the starting point and cut the remaining depth. Soapstone is a soft-and-beautiful mineral that is popular for hand carving.

Always inspect the soapstone slab to identify and locate veins prior to cutting and sanding. Set up a straight edge to guide you as you use the saw. Cut the stone using a circular saw with a dry cutting diamond blade.

When cutting soapstone because it is a soft material that tends to give off lots of dust when sanded he shows how to effectively and safely shape the blank by using hard metal scrapers and a vacuum source. I really think the answer depends on just how many of these tiles slabs you are planning to cut. This will make the cutting process more manageable with less stress on the saw.

You want to make sure you are rubbing enough so that the heat of your hands will transfer to the rock. No special tools are neede. Hold the hammer in your dominant hand and the chisel in the other.

Pour the oil directly onto the soapstoneits naturally non-porous so it wont absorb oil or moisture. This is a demo of me cutting out a goose carving from soapstone using a saw designed for ceramic tile. We will be applying the oil by hand and will use the heat of our hands to help with the absorption process.

Due to its high talc content its reasonably simple to cut soapstone slabs with a regular circular saw fitted with a diamond-tip masonry blade. Avoid cutting directly through the white or brown veins when possible. Use just enough oil to spread a thin coat onto the surface by hand.