May 11, 05: Soapstone: How smooth? What grit?

Soapstone: How smooth? What grit?

Posted by Lynnski (My Page) on Wed, May 11, 05 at 9:50

The fabricator I'm using is a wizard with stone, although mostly he installs granite, not soapstone. He says that they finish soapstone at 100 grit, because it scratches less and stays darker longer than a finer (higher number) grit.

Can anyone speak from experience about how smooth their soapstone counters are? I love the warmth and smoothness of old soapstone, but I don't know how to compare the surface I want with what my guy is describing.

Follow-Up Postings:

RE: Soapstone: How smooth? What grit?

This is an interesting question. When I went down to look at slabs at Soapstone West they said they finished the stone at either 120 or 220 and that 120 did take the mineral oil better. The display counter of Santa Rita I was told was 120 and it felt smooth enough for me. When I talked to another fabricator who doesn't work with only soapstone but has done a few kitchens with soapstone, he said he always finishes at 220. It's a little confusing.

My slabs are not done yet, so I can only offer this little tidbit of info. Hopefully some others will chime in -

RE: Soapstone: How smooth? What grit?

The 120 doesn't have that glorious soft 'feel' of soapstone, IMHO. Ours are honed to 220, and I much prefer that. Lots of the stone's appeal is tactile- might as well love to touch it!

RE: Soapstone: How smooth? What grit?

220 makes more sense to me on a gut level. I'm less concerned about scratches and more concerned about enjoying that delicious feel.

Vermont Soapstone Company says 80 grit in their literature, which is even coarser than my guy suggests. Any other opinions???

RE: Soapstone: How smooth? What grit?

I've heard that installing anything smoother than 80grit is what creates the complaints abuot scratches...as they disrupte the smooth as a babies bottom feel. But at 80grit, the scratches don't distract(as much), because the feel is already "textured".

Then (as previously stated) there is the oil absorbtion issue...

Now if I can just find out what grit equivalent "gauged" is, I can make a decsion on what condition to order my slabs!

Anyone know?

Regards,
M.J.

RE: Soapstone: How smooth? What grit?

"The 120 doesn't have that glorious soft 'feel' of soapstone, IMHO. Ours are honed to 220, and I much prefer that. Lots of the stone's appeal is tactile- might as well love to touch it! "

I'm with Pecanpie on this one. We DIY's ours, and had to sand down one piece as it was a little thicker than it's neighbor. We started at 80 grit (which had a bit of an 'orange peel' character), then 120 (smooth, but not that glorious silky feel), then 220 (aaaahh!).

I suspect the 'holding oil' issue is probably a temporary one, but can't say for sure since ours are still so new.

RE: Soapstone: How smooth? What grit?

I'm curious if you plan to sand all the scratches to maintain the 220 feel?

The cynic in me things you are setting yourself up for a long battle...ironic part is that I think my wife will end up wanting/demanding the 220grit as well!

RE: Soapstone: How smooth? What grit?

Gauged is quite rough, not even close to 80grit. Imagine the parallel lines made by a typical bandsaw or jigsaw, if you do any woodworking. It is not a finished surface at that point. I am considering Alberene Soapstone, which you can get rouch slabs that are gauged. Sanding myself would probably cause a non-flat surface, so if I go that route I will rough cut the slabs to size, then take them to a local stone place to hone, then finish them up.

RE: Soapstone: How smooth? What grit?

  • Posted by: Mjfc (My Page) on Thu, May 12, 05 at 14:34
I just got my stone from Alberene and had them do it to 400. I had an Alberene sample at 220 and it was slightly textured and a sample of Churchill that was smooth at 400. I thought I read some past threads that discussed 400 grit. Now I am a bit curious. The stone won't be installed for a week or so and is still crated. I guess I will have to wait and report back. I originally liked the finish of the VT Soapstone. Then I started receiving all these smoother stones and went that way.

RE: Soapstone: How smooth? What grit?

I have no idea what grit my soapstone was sanded to but it's smooth as "a baby's butt" for sure. I felt the VT soapstone at the Historic home show this past Jan and honestly was shocked at how NOT smooth it was, it felt like orange peel, in a bad way. Yes the scratches show more with a smoother surface but as someone mentioned so much of soapstone's appeal is the tactile. We have "original" soapstone from Bucks County Soapstone.

RE: Soapstone: How smooth? What grit?

skivino, we have the same stone and I couldn't agree more. Mine has now been in for years and it looks as good as when it was installed. I never gave a second thought to the "grit" issue. I expected it to feel like the soapstone we had as kids. Maybe the poster could call BCSS and ask what grit they use? I think I was the person who said soapstone was for "tactile" and not pristine people. As you age, patina becomes more desireable.

RE: Soapstone: How smooth? What grit?

To help us get a sense of the grit, our stone guy brought a sample by over the weekend. He took a 14" section of "our" slab, and finished half at 100 and half at 220 grit. While the 100 was evenly textured and didn't feel like orange peel, it did not have the delightful tactility of the 220, which was irresistably smooth. Yes, the smoother stone definitely scratched more easily, and the scratches were not as well-hidden with the application of more mineral oil/beeswax as the scratches on the 100-grit side.

I think that because our guy usually works with granite and granite customers, he's thinking that scratching is unacceptable. I had to remind myself that I never wanted the harshness of granite; I value the heat and stain resistance of soapstone, and its gorgeous good looks, and don't care about its showing the inevitable dings and scratches of life.

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