Shiny!

January 16, 2006 7:29 PM

What is the best way to finish a soapstone carving? I have tried car wax, mineral oil and linseed oil - all applied with a leather sham, and all based on recommendations, but all unsatisfactory. I sand in gradations from 80 grit to 1500 grit but nothing that I do results in that smooth, shiny, almost translucent quality that I have seen in other soapstone carvings. I do all my carving and finishing by hand, no Dremmel or similar.
posted by arcticwoman to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (7 answers total)

Tin oxide,on leather will do it,I carve steatite's cousin, jade.
some toothpaste has it as an ingredient.
posted by hortense at 7:54 PM on January 16, 2006

gloss polyurethane
posted by arrhn at 1:04 AM on January 17, 2006

Or even better, now that I think about it... several coats of varnish should do the trick.
posted by arrhn at 1:08 AM on January 17, 2006

i polished soapstone with increasingly finer grades of steel wool then a coat of varnish, steel wool, varnish, steel wool, varnish, steel wool, and... varnish.
posted by medium format at 3:55 AM on January 17, 2006

A quick Google search brings up a couple of good links.
posted by KathyK at 5:59 AM on January 17, 2006

Typically it is a waste to take the sandpaper finishing above 1000 grit. From that point some people apply oils (do not use food oils as they go rancid), lacquers (make sure they are non-yellowing) or polishing fluids (like Akemi 2012) to create their final finish. A top coat of wax (micro-crystalline) may be applied to any of these to control the final luster. The other factor determining how you will finish the piece is whether or not it will reside indoors or out!
posted by comscu at 8:39 AM on January 17, 2006

The mystery of stone polish. Flow theory: The surface deforms and flows to fill in and level the surface.Chemical polish theory: The surface is removed atom by atom through chemical reactions.
posted by hortense at 9:53 AM on January 17, 2006