Saopstone tips

[kaaboom_99]

Hi everyone. I just received a call with a request to do some cutting/engraving of some soapstone. I have never seen this product before. Has anyone had any experience with soapstone and what tips and info can you pass on.
PS. Hope everyone upcoming year is more lucrative than the past!
Thanks
Perry

[bjwat@comcast.net]

Perry,
One use for Soapstone is as a marking pen. Weldors use it to mark steel because it shows up white and is heat resistant unlike Sharpie markers that evaporate.

It is generally pretty soft and shouldn't be a problem milling it. A word of caution...just make sure that you can deal with any mess that will come from carving it. I carved wax one time and I am still scraping wax off of the V-track and rollers. You may also need to use a coolant while cutting...this can also get messy.

Without knowing what the design looks like, it's hard to suggest a bit. It sounds to me that you might do best with a V-bit if you are carving a design.

I would test a piece before committing to the job.

-Brady

[gerald_d]

Soapstone is also used for sculpture and counter tops (http://www.soapstones.com) - so it can also be a pretty hard grade.

[pjweber@insightbb.com]

According to the link below, there are two types of soapstone. I would get the customer to give you a sample to test before bidding on this job.

http://www.findstone.com/soapstone.htm

[normand@sculpteur.ca]

By baking soapstone it can be petrified,either on the outside, part of the way through, or completely.
In this petrified state (wich resembles vitrification) soapstone become white and glassy with an enamel-like coating.The most striking change is that it pass from a hardness of 1 to between5.5 and 6.5. 800 degrees c. would be a good temp. to experiment.

[kaaboom_99]

Thanks for the tips and links guys. My customer is on his way over with a sample so that some testing/playing may be had. I never associated the term with the sticks that the welders at my place of work use as being one and the same soapstone. Maybe I could start to personalize their markers for them???
Once again this family of SB owners has responded loud and clear. I greatly appreciate that feature of being a member here.
I will post and let you guys know how we make out.
Thanks
Perry

[davidallen]

I've turned soapstone on a lathe. it produces powder, not chips. I used HSS tools and scraping cuts. I imagine that bits used for tiles would be useful for soapstone as well.

da