carving stone troubles?

[small hands]

Hello, I have just begun my adventures in stone shaping and started on two soft beginner stones, soap and alabaster.My question is: on the soapstone I am at the general shaping stage of using the point and claw chisels and the stone has tons of white all over it where I have tooled it.Will this polish out when I riffle and sand and polish it or is all bruised up or does it look white in the beginning cutting stages? I havent started on the alabaster yet but I have heard it bruises easily. As you can tell, I am new to the stone.I can use some advice on what type of wax to use when polishing and what type of bases are best and how to attach them! thanks for any replies, I will check my posts daily.

[jwebb]

All that white is just light reflected off tiny particles. It will polish out nicely. I think "bruising" refers to actual fracturing of the stone beneath the surface at which you decide to stop on a form. You have to wallop the stone pretty hard to accomplish that, so I wouldn't worry about it. You can figure this all out experimentally. Just polish up a small area you've worked on. On soft stones, wood rasps and files work well, and there are rifflers and sure-forms and potato peelers and fish-scalers that'll work. I would then use sand-paper and/or emory cloth. I also use pieces of harder stone, carbide, etc., to finish softer stone. Alabaster has a soft, lustrous quality; almost translucent. You can't get and wouldn't want a high polish on it. I don't want a mirror finish on most stone. I don't know if any of this is the "right" way or not. I think the important thing is to have at it and react to what you see, and enjoy it. I don't use any wax until the end. I've used everything from Johnson's paste wax to special marble polishes, to furniture polish. This is probably more important on white or light colored stones, where you want to avoid yellowing. It also makes the piece smell nice. Keep us posted.

[small hands]

I used the rifflers and sandpaper, then a polishing tip on my dremel tool made of cloth.I applied some wax but I didn't go for a mirror finish either.All the white junk disappeared except for in the deeper areas which look good with the light color in them I think.Another question, is it absolutely necessary to mount it to a base or can it stand alone? I have attached a photo of the front and back side of my first soapstone piece, I call it "2 geese" how do you like it? oops the file is too big,it wont attach I will try again to attach it.I cant attach my file, sorry

[jwebb]

Well I got to see it, I guess in another thread or someplace, and, I like it a lot! Your subject is recognizable, but you haven't let representing some absolute likeness of ducks dominate it completely; there's a nice feeling for the characte of the stone. I personally don't think it requires any base. Some pieces do, some don't. One of the toughest things about stone carving is deciding when it's done. You can finish and finish and finish. And many people like to do so. I usually prefer only some areas highly finished, if any; and the juxtaposition of rough stone, worked areas, and polished surfaces can provide an important element in itself. I love the work of Jose' deCreeft, a spanish stone carver who produced a remarkable number of pieces. If you have access you might check him out. Great job! Keep them little hands moving.