Was wondering if anyone has worked with soapstone on a knife handle or even tool handles. What I have learned so far, that stuff is fun and easy to carve and finish. Also makes a nice burnishing tool for leather edges. Canadian soapstone is soft and use for carving only. America, Brazil and couple others it is a harder stone for architectural work. Since it warms to the hand when in use I thought a black or even green would be good looking on a kitchen knife set or even some leather working tools.
It would be interesting in small bits, but I'm not sure about a soapstone handle. It's quite heavy, which could affect balance -- and fatigue in a kitchen knife. There's also the issue of grip. Any soapstone I've come across is very smooth and slippery. That wouldn't be great for a knife, especially when wet.
Good points mentioned, there is an article of being easy to clean off bacteria written back during a SARS outbreak plus it is used in kitchen counter tops. Matching knife set was kind of the slippery road I was heading down. Maybe hollowing out the scales on a full tang would be needed. On a hollow tang a drilled hole is probably a bad idea and maybe split handle to make the tang hole a tight fit. Of course if smooth and easy to clean will be slippery. I did wax a burnishing tool I made with Minwax paste wax after a 1200 grit finish but have not tried in wet and greasy yet. I do have some thin black ebony and considered a soapstone insert that has been carved, might be more practical if sealed in clear resin.
