Just finished in to time send for Christmas: soapstone handle, 24mm high mtn badger

Just finishing off the last of the gifts I've made for Christmas, hopefully soon enough for them to get to my family in time for Christmas. I decided this year that it would be as close to a 100% non-commercial Christmas as possible. So everything I am giving to my family is either in whole or in part hand made either by me or by someone else. So there's a candle holder and some napkin rings I forged in a blacksmithing apprenticeship course for my sister, a guitar strap for one nephew, a knife and sheath for my other nephew (I may now be hooked on leather work as well as blacksmithing...), some hand made shaving soaps, bowls, and brushes for which I made the handles for my Dad and Bro-in-law, and a teapot for my Mom made by a friend who is a potter out west. It is so much more satisfying than just going out and buying crap, but man does doing it this way it ever take up a lot of time!

Anyway, here's the most interesting of the brushes I made. Hand carved from soapstone and coated with beeswax. I like the look of it, and it feels *great* in the hand. I think I may have to make another for myself now. :) The knot is one of the High Mountain Badger knots I bought from Mr. Chen on AliBaba. I really like those knots, but one must be prepared for quite a wait to receive them.

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Fantastic work,what tools do you use to carve the soapstone??

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Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Fantastic work,what tools do you use to carve the soapstone??

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Thanks!

Anything that carves wood will work fine on soapstone. In this case there were some files, sandpaper, a couple of carving knives (one fixed blade, one replaceable scalpel-blade type with a hooked blade), a few chisels, and a couple of these guys:

Miniature Chisels & Scalers - Lee Valley Tools

It's beautiful material to work with, but you have to be aware of fault lines or you'll fall prey to some serious chipping issues.

I tried turning soap stone on the lathe. FAIL!!
My centers pushed right through it. Never tried it again.

You did an awesome job on it!!

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Originally Posted by Cangooner

Thanks!

Anything that carves wood will work fine on soapstone. In this case there were some files, sandpaper, a couple of carving knives (one fixed blade, one replaceable scalpel-blade type with a hooked blade), a few chisels, and a couple of these guys:

Miniature Chisels & Scalers - Lee Valley Tools

It's beautiful material to work with, but you have to be aware of fault lines or you'll fall prey to some serious chipping issues.

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Thank you, I think I can turn that using carbide bits.

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Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Thank you, I think I can turn that using carbide bits.

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If you do, please let me know how it works! I have never tried turning soapstone for fear that what Andrew described would happen.

Carbidebits should go through soapstone like butter. It's very soft.

That's the way Christmas should be.....from the heart!! Cudo's!

Looks like there will be heirlooms passed around and treasured!! That's a beautiful job on the brush!! :tu

I love working soapstone. When we lived in Alaska, my friend's family had a soapstone quarry and I'd get the chance to go through the piles in the saw room before they were cut to size. I left a pile of soapstone when we moved back to the lower 48. :(

You need another hobby!! :D

Merry Christmas to you and the Family!!

Howard :)

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Originally Posted by Cangooner

If you do, please let me know how it works! I have never tried turning soapstone for fear that what Andrew described would happen.

Carbidebits should go through soapstone like butter. It's very soft.

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Be back next week,I have some large blocks of soapstone.just need to find them:(

Now that is really cool! The recipient of that gift should be real proud. Green is my favourite colour and that brush handle just takes the cake..very nicely done!

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Originally Posted by Cangooner

If you do, please let me know how it works! I have never tried turning soapstone for fear that what Andrew described would happen.

Carbidebits should go through soapstone like butter. It's very soft.

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At a woodworking show in Saratoga NY a few years ago i watched this turner work with soapstone, first thing he said was to glue the piece to a block of wood or drill a hole in it insert a dowel and use a screw type chuck no metal centers the soapstone crumbles. He was using regular turning tools with some of them being carbide.

Also great work on that brush definately one of a kind!

amazing work. how could you not love that.

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Originally Posted by Martin103

At a woodworking show in Saratoga NY a few years ago i watched this turner work with soapstone, first thing he said was to glue the piece to a block of wood or drill a hole in it insert a dowel and use a screw type chuck no metal centers the soapstone crumbles. He was using regular turning tools with some of them being carbide.

Also great work on that brush definately one of a kind!

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Thx for the Info Martin,will find a way if possible.

That handle is beyond beautiful, well done. What a gift to receive

I need to revisit turning soap stone. I have a talon chuck now, which will clamp onto the piece. I love that new chuck, makes turning way easier. Regular tools should do the job just fine. I've turned tru stone with HSS tools with no problems.

Great work, all around, on the gifts. Cool brush.

Unique, but also very nice work!!

Ray

Yea, that's great work man. Kudos. What a gift.

Now if you could just make a brush holder for it out of the same type of soapstone,,,,:shrug:

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Originally Posted by Hirlau

Now if you could just make a brush holder for it out of the same type of soapstone,,,,:shrug:

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I actually have one, but it won't fit this brush. :( It fits a 20mm knot, and if I thinned the arms to fit this one, it would probably be too weak to hold it.

Food for thought though... :hmmm:

Here's the brush holder I made a while back: http://straightrazorpalace.com/misce...tml#post983246

That was a nice one, I don't know how I missed it.

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Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

I need to revisit turning soap stone. I have a talon chuck now, which will clamp onto the piece. I love that new chuck, makes turning way easier. Regular tools should do the job just fine. I've turned tru stone with HSS tools with no problems.

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You can turn it.I just did.BUT be very carefull,Is a very friable material,I think the possibilty of it exploading is great.
Not going to make a brush handle with it as I think it will be to heavy.
Will slice it up for spacers.
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if you guys plan to make brushhandles out of the soapstone try not to make the hole for the knot to narrow. when the epoxy get hardned it expands abit and the soapstone is very hard and brittle and it will crack if wall is to thin. happen to both my soapbrush handles from Neep, i didnt even use them. He stop doing this model cuz it happen to others aswell. Rod is a good guy and fix it thou.

I'm Def going to try turning it again. I have a few hunks of it flying around here somewhere. I think a basic shape would be best. The less I need to have a tool on it the better.

See Kris, your master piece is inspiring everyone!!
How many hours did you put into the whole thing?

Putting some bits and pces together,no clue as to what it will be.
Thx for the inspiration Kris:)
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Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

I'm Def going to try turning it again. I have a few hunks of it flying around here somewhere. I think a basic shape would be best. The less I need to have a tool on it the better.

See Kris, your master piece is inspiring everyone!!
How many hours did you put into the whole thing?

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I honestly don't know. I had cut the rough shape months ago, and had already drilled a starter hole, so it was just a matter of laying out the design, carving it, and then deepening the hole a bit to get the loft I wanted. So part of the work was done in advance, but I'd guess there were a good few hours put in on it the other day.

It's nice to think it might be inspiring others, as I've received more than my fair share of inspiration from you all. :)

I like your Freudian typo about having hunks of it "flying" around. Hopefully that's not too prophetic!

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Originally Posted by pixelfixed

You can turn it.I just did.BUT be very carefull,Is a very friable material,I think the possibilty of it exploading is great.
Not going to make a brush handle with it as I think it will be to heavy.
Will slice it up for spacers.

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It definitely has some weight to it! That's why this one went to my bro-in-law, and not to my Dad. I think his hands will appreciate the lighter wood handle.

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I like your Freudian typo about having hunks of it "flying" around. Hopefully that's not too prophetic!

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Ya, I guess its pretty hard for soap stone to fly!
Obviously I had to do some googling after this statement Kris. ;)

When I read this on Wikipedia, (Slips of the tongue and the pen are the classical parapraxes, but psychoanalytic theory also embraces misreadings, mishearings, temporary forgettings, and the mislaying and losing of objects.)

That pretty much sums me up in a nut shell!

Well I dinked around with some soapstone,easy to work with.a little messy (lots of dust) was fun.:)
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That is just beautifull Bill well done!

Thx Martin, a little Lignum, soapstone lapis recon,ebony.
I wish I knew how to carve stuff,I would carve a dragon around the stone:)

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Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Well I dinked around with some soapstone,easy to work with.a little messy (lots of dust) was fun.:)

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Ha ha... yeah, I should probably have mentioned the dust! :) It's bad enough with hand tools, so I imagine it must have become a bit cloudy in the workshop when turning it.

That looks *great* and setting it in ebony will eliminate the brittleness issue MrMagnus mentioned.

Also doweled all in place,also used the lignum endcap to run my spur into.
Is one thing to carve soapstone but the stresses of turning it I think can be a disastor,be carefull.

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Originally Posted by SirStropalot

That's the way Christmas should be.....from the heart!! Cudo's!

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+1
Really nice job.
Congrats.
:chapeau