Instructional video on cutting soapstone for a fireplace hearth
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- Опубліковано 15 січ 2016
- Video provides some basic instruction in DIY cutting of a soapstone slab to create an arch shaped fireplace hearth stone using a standard router.
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Very nicely done. I have almost an entire slab of soapstone still sitting in the garage leftover from a kitchen remodel we did 13 years ago. With your video, I now feel confident that I know how to take it down into usable pieces. I plan on lining the bottom shelves of cabinets that hold bottles of messy liquids that always seem to leak (laundry room detergent, kitchen and bathrooms under sink, etc.). Thanks for taking the time to make this very helpful video!
I hope your project turns out well. As with some previous comments, please wear a dusk mask while cutting the soapstone to keep your lungs clean. It does make a lot of very fine stone dust. For someone without professional grade equipment, dry saws and routers will work fine on small soapstone projects. And regarding an earlier comment, electricity and water make a very dangerous combination unless you are using equipment specifically manufactured for that purpose. One thing that I didn't address in the video is gluing pieces together. For the 3 kitchen projects that I've undertaken, I used a knife grade two part epoxy. However, the soapstone dealer that I purchased from also recommended regular super glue for making repairs or joining two slabs. One of the slabs that I purchased was damaged during loading at the quarry and a corner was broken off. I used the super glue as recommended and it worked wonderfully at hiding the break. The super glue actually allowed for a much thinner joint than the knife grade epoxy. Thank you for posting your comment.
That's some good work! Beautiful fireplace.
Thank you for the compliments.
Great job but please put a real respirator on stone dust in your lungs is really really bad for you God Bless
Thank you for the comment and for your concern. The video was a last minute thought and was posted to provide some inspiration for others who might want to tackle a similar project. At the time it was recorded there were no other DIY soapstone videos posted on UA-cam. I ended up fabricating countertops for three kitchens along with a master bath and the fireplace hearth that is shown in the video. I was actually very careful using the cheap paper respirators and don't recall having any issues with dust in my lungs. Obviously I was working outside and trying to stay upwind, and I believe this was the only time that I had trouble with my glasses fogging. I agree wholeheartedly with you that when cutting soapstone, one needs to protect both his/her eyes and lungs, and depending on the tools being used, ears too. The video is totally amateur in nature and was not intended for professional training in this trade. Soapstone is an outstanding natural countertop material as long as you use cutting blocks when using knives on it. We love our soapstone countertops and they have held up well over the past 3-4 years.
You video was very helpful and has given me the confidence to tackle my own project, Thanks for your time and be well,
some tape across the nose on the dust mask keeps the glasses from foging up. I find painters low tack or masking tape the best
Thank you very much for the helpful tip. I shot this video at the last minute without any real planning. I thought someone might find it helpful, and many more people have viewed it than I ever expected. The reason I made the video was to show others that you don't have to be a genius or a professional in the trades to work with soapstone on a DIY project. But you do need to do your homework and learn as much as you can before you begin cutting expensive stone. I've completed two kitchens with another one coming up soon, in addition to our master bath and the fireplace hearth I was working on in the video. The hearth turned out beautiful by the way.
thanks for the video I am cutting up 3 old soapstone sinks to be usd on an outside wood fired oven and grill.
That sounds like an awesome way to recycle and reuse items that otherwise likely would be discarded. I live on the Outer Banks of NC and purchased my soapstone directly from the quarry located southeast of Charlottesville, VA. My understanding is the quarry is where the real John Boy Walton's father (Earl Hamner's father) worked prior to the depression when he was laid off and started his sawmill business that is depicted in the TV series from the 70s that I grew up watching. Earl Hamner's home is only a quarter mile from the quarry and is open for visitors.
I have no idea how many soapstone quarries existed in the US years ago when it was the only available solid surface countertop available, but this is the only operating quarry in the US today. Most soapstone is imported today from Brazil. The folks at the quarry in Virginia were great to work with and the story of visiting the quarry and picking out our slabs just adds to the overall story. You can see their products here: www.polycor.com/stone/soapstone/alberene-soapstone/
We picked out our slabs at the Alberene quarry and they were cut exactly as ordered. Due to the weight of the product (175 lbs for a 4 ft countertop) we chose to seam most of the runs over 4 ft long, but did work with a couple of longer pieces due to not wanting seams on the bar and fireplace hearth. My seams turned out very well using a knife grade black epoxy. The bar slab weighed around 350 pounds before it was cut into an arch design and required four men to move and position. I noticed today (12-23-16) that this video has been viewed over 800 times, which is totally surprising to me. I realize this is a pretty low quality video (I apologize to all, except whoever gave me the thumbs down) and will try to post a more professional video in the coming months as I tackle my third kitchen. My primary reason for posting it was to help amateurs (like me) feel empowered to undertake working with this beautiful and functional product. Our countertops cost us a fraction of what a nice granite countertop would have cost to install in our home. We receive compliments from everyone that visits our home, and I am blessed to be able to take pride in the work of my own hands.
Water should be continuously sprayed on the blades of both the circular saw and routers to extend the life of the blades and prevent dust. As you must be careful with water and electricity, a proper work space is required.
I am not a professional, but I totally disagree. I would never use water with the type of traditional saw and router that I used in this video. I believe that would create an electrocution risk. No DIY project is worth that kind of risk. Professional wet saws are intended to be used with water, but not traditional "dry" saws and routers like I used in the video. The diamond blade that I used in the saw was labeled for dry use. It has expansion slots built into it to allow for expansion caused by heat. In actuality, the diamond blade does not heat up when cutting soapstone as much as you would expect. Wet blades are designed differently than dry blades. I could not find a diamond router blade so I used a traditional blade. It served the purpose in which I needed it to. Again, this video is intended for DIY folks on small projects. Professional soapstone installers will want to invest in professional grade equipment. I used a wet tile saw to make a few cuts in my backsplash pieces, but due to the weight of the soapstone, that would be impossible on larger pieces such as you see on the video.