Thanks Lizzie & Rebecca, glad you like them.
Alot of the snow melted today.
Cool stuff Steve. We have alot of soapstone in this area, and alot
of it is the green. Beautiful stuff when you get a nice deep polish
on it. There are so many different types, mixtures, and color
combinations of the talc, ie; soapstone, that there's really no one
best way to finish/polish the stuff. As with alot of other material,
the rock has alot to do with dictating what you can do with it.
Also makes a big difference if the finished piece is to be stored
indoors or out. Wax finishes won't hold up for long outside no
matter what you do to it. But everyone has their own methods,
and there's a lot of trial and error. Really the only reason I would
heat a piece is if I were using some beeswax to try and fill small
cavities and pock marks and wanted it to sink/soak into the rock.
And that, like any other method, would call for numorous coats.
For sculptures that are going to be kept outdoors, the best thing
we have found are high-grade clear wood sealers that will not
yellow. And a lot of guys reccomend multiple coats of wax on top
of that.
Heck, experimenting with it is the fun part.
Just wish I had more
time to play with it.
A heated piece of soapstone will stay warm for a long time. An
archaeologist did an experiment where he heated a soapstone
bowl hot enough to boil water. He was able to pour the water
out and refill the bowl and bring the water to a boil six times
without having to reheat it.
Joe