You can if you do it properly. I would ask the fabricator to get a remnant that came from your job and finish that for you to check before working on your countertops. He should use the same techniques that he would use in your house, meaning he should do that piece at your house so you know he is not doing it wet at the shop and dry at your house.

Regular sand paper will leave a little bit of texture depending on the soapstone you have. Pictures would help.

Thanks so much for answering me. I've been really confused about this.

The stone is not in my house yet. He could make it smooth before he installs it. I'm just wondering if I need to worry about the fabricator not being able to make it smooth.

Is this difficult to do? If my fabricator says he can sand it before he installs it, can I trust him? Or, should I try to find another slab somewhere (will be *very* difficult). I have not put down a deposit yet. The roughness of the stone was disturbing to me. If the fabricator could make it smooth, I would be very happy because it is a very nice piece of soapstone.

Thanks so much!

I honed all of my slabs before I installed them. They could be honed in place, but its much messier. I used silicon carbide sandpaper (it's black) in the following grits:
150; 220; 320. You could start with 120 or even 100 if your gauging marks are deep. You can also use dry diamond discs on a random-orbital sander and that is much faster (but very dusty).
With the hand-sanding, use a wooden or hard rubber sanding block and water. Work in straight strokes, change direction every so often. The sandpaper dulls quickly, so save your strength and use fresh paper.
At 220 and higher, you can go in circles if you wish, especially with 320. To ease the edge with sandpaper, use a wooden block or else the edge will be wavy.
Casey

Thanks casey. One of the fabricators said that they hone all their slabs before installation. Another said he charges a bit more for it, but his price was low to begin with. I think I'll have them work on part of my sample and see how smooth it gets... are you saying they can make the stone very smooth?

Thanks!!

At least as smooth as this. My first piece.

Meow, Casey, that's nice work!

You don't want to finish soapstone to too high of a sheen. I typically use no more than 100 or 120 grit. When you go higher you polish the harder areas which then won't take the oil like the "softer" areas will. Also the lower the sheen the less problems you will have with scratches.

Enjoy your new tops, you will love soapstone !

thanks, tom999. that's good info.

A silky smooth finish is not hard to get, you just have to know what the process is. This is a cheese board I made it is obviously not the factory finish. . . Texture is to be expected in some varieties and to some extent. The right process takes care of most of it though.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

I love that cheese board.. do you sell them?

Today I took the rough sample to one of the fabricators I'm considering. He did a great job making it smooth (but not too smooth). I also got to see pics of some of his projects and watch his guys work on a big piece of marble.

He also had a really, really nice slab from the same place I was going to get mine (more veining, which is what we wanted). So, if we go with him, we'll actually get a slab we prefer to the ones at the supplier.

thanks for all the help-- I was worried it wouldn't work out.