I am a HS industrial arts teacher who just learned to CNC mill!!! yeah!
I have made simple molds for casting pewter in wood, corian, and aluminum.

I know you can hand make pewter molds in soapstone, but have any of you tried to machine it? It is such an abstract form, but I assume it can be cleaved and faced for machining.

Have any of you tried to mill soapstone or other such sculpting materials?

yeah, did that once.... never again.

a carbide endmill cuts soapstone like butter... however...
the mess was incredible...talc dust everywhere... even when holding
the shopvac at the cut... even when soaking everything down with water

after sweeping, vacuuming, washing down the machine... the dust was still everywhere. where the mister tank lid was originally black ... it is now grey.

spent days wiping dust from the rails and bearings... luckily talc dust
is not very abrasive... but what a mess.

don't come anwhere near my shop with F@#$in' soapstone.

did i mention the mess?

regards Gary

nuff said.
Thank you for the advice DR-Motion. Considering I teach boys who hate to clean anyhow, I'll stay away from the soapstone and stick to the corian for the pewter molds. Just curious, why did you try to mill soapstone anyhow?

catherine

A client wanted a demo to see if he could cnc cut soapstone to build
custom fireplaces. His company was cutting them using a handheld router.

He did warn us of the dust... but until you see it... you just don't really believe. I guess its all relative... if you make dust all day, you become aclimatised (sp?).

Our machine could cut faster than he could by hand ;-)

regards, Gary

I think it's worth noting (forgive me if this has already been covered or if I should have just let this thread rest in peace) that soapstone dust may contain significant levels of asbestos and silica, presenting more than just a nuisance to clean up.