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how do they 'leather finish' soapstone?

doggonegardener

13 years ago

I am hoping an expert like florida joshua will chime in here. I am wondering how they achieve a "leathered" or "brushed" finish on soapstone. We recently purchased DIY slabs from M Tex and we are trying to do the research so we can finish them successfully. We live in Wyoming, and there are NO soapstone experts in the area. We selected Julia for the green highlights. I want to achieve that "buttery/silky" look that soapstone deserves. Right now, the slabs look a little "granity". Their current surface, from the yard, is VERY shiny, slightly sparkly. Not a dig against granite, it's just not the look I am going for. I want warm to the touch, soft, buttery, matte finish, silky, strokeable soapstone. Advice from others that have DIY or from experts would be appreciated. We have done all the research on cutting. We are ready for that with skill and tools aplenty...it's the surface finish I want to concern myself with at this point.

Many thanks in advance for any replies. I hope to get lots of good info.

Rene

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Comments (5)

antss
13 years ago
Special grinding/polishing pads are used on very large machines. I don't consider this a DIY project though anything is possible given enough time and $$$.
sombreuil_mongrel
13 years ago
Hi,
I honed my own soapstone. I bought the slabs gauged to thickness and flatness, but with big swirly gauging-machine marks all over them. The honing is the smoothing process that establishes the finial finish. The very first piece I honed was done primarily with my hand as the sanding block; I found that this technique brought out a lot of texture to the finished surface. The softer part of the stone was sanded deeper than the hard bits, giving a surface that was more dimpled, orange-peel, whatever you choose to call it. You could say leathered. The type of surface I got this was was not pleasing to me, as I wanted them to stay flat as possible. I started using a hard rubber sanding block thereafter. I also bought two diamond sanding discs for my random-orbital sander. These are metal-backed discs and did an even better job keeping it flat, and the diamond cut faster than the silicon carbide abrasive paper.
The long & short is, a softer abrasive backer will let the stone reveal whatever texture potential it contains. The softer backing allows the abrasive to follow the natural contour wearing away the softer bits while riding over the harder inclusions.
If one wanted a stronger texture, they could probably have the stone sandblasted, which would do the same thing only deeper and faster. If the blasting media was carefully chosen, some very pleasing effects could no doubt be obtained. SS being at the soft to very soft range o minerals doesn't take much to abrade.
My first effort at honing the SS was a separate piece that tops a stand-alone cabinet, so the slightly ripply surface doesn't bother me. It stands as testimony to the learning curve that DIY'ers must deal with.
Casey
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Okay, I'm down to the wire on making a soapstone decision! The "Leathered Julia" is unique and beautiful but I'm torn between that and the more traditional beauty of the Santa Barbara. A couple more questions for those of you in "the SS know." Is the finish of the ss sample subject to change when polished by the fabricator? The Santa Barbara sample from M. Teix is VERY smooth (almost too smooth.) With regard to the leathered finish; when you find that you need to sand out a scrath or ding, will that create a challenge to the overall look? Will I regret buying slabs (especially the SB) from M. Teix sight unseen??? I'm really nervous about this and almost ready to get on a plane to check it out for myself. Is there any possibility of someone in their area being my eyes and hands??? M. Teix has estimated shipping to the Ohio/Indiana area to be about $725.00 for 3 slabs; does that sound right? THANKS sincerely for the wonderful information, photos and advice I've received from this forum. Can't wait to get my soapstone and kitchen complete (a kitchen I'll truly love THANKS to all of your support.)
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@Beth Would you mind posting photos of your completed kitchen? The marble slab photo you posted above in this thread is GORGEOUS! I’ve been a “stalker” on Houzz now for awhile - you give some of the best advice I’ve read on here - especially when someone desperately needs help trying to pull elements together (many times bc some element has not turned out to be exactly what the person was expecting - and he/she is GREATLY disappointed). You consistently present great ideas - and, obviously, spend a lot of time helping people out. You are my favorite contributor! I’ve been a “stalker” on Houzz now for awhile - you give some of the best advice I’ve read on here - especially when someone desperately needs help trying to pull elements together (many times bc some element has not turned out to be exactly what the person was expecting - and he/she is GREATLY disappointed). You consistently present great ideas - and, obviously to spend a lot of time helping people out. You are my favorite contributor!!
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plllog
13 years ago
I can't advise on the how--my Finland Green (which is a pretty different kind of soapstone--it's pretty darned hard and doesn't want oiling) came leathered, which was fine with me. I really love it!! It's enough texture to make it feel "natural" rather than machined, but not enough to make it hard to clean. One thing I particularly love is that you can feel the quartz veins. That is, the edges are defined.
User
13 years ago
This gardenweb person has a great description of the diy process. He also bought from M Tex.

Here is a link that might be useful: diy soapstone
User
13 years ago
Sorry Same guy, wrong link

Here is a link that might be useful: donchuwish soapstone DIY

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