soap stone

[mopinko]

so, i am building a window seat over a radiator. the front has a marble tile mosaic. the ends of the top will be wood. the middle needs to be easily removable, so that i have access to the radiator. so my plan is to put 3 slabs of countertop in the middle, leaving a little bit of space for hot air circulation.
marble is out, as i have had way too many pieces of marble fall apart when cut. or looked at sideways for that matter.
so, i like granite ok, but am just not finding the perfect color. what i did see that would work is soapstone. the color is great, and the heat radiation is the best.
i know it is going to get scratched. i think i can live with that. i can always buff it out.
or am i kidding myself?

some pics-

[Hassin Bin Sober]

1. Sounds like a great idea.

There has been a guy on chicago craig'slist materials section running an ad for soapstone. His ad says he will fabricate or sell it raw.

You might be able to save some dough. I've been thinking of calling and checking it out for a little liquor cabinet I am making.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

2. Very cool

Very very cool ! I like creative thinking. Sand and buff just like you said. 100 grit is what is called for. Apparently soap stone scratcehs sand out easy. I don't think scratching will be that big of a deal where you are using that material . But to keep it perfect looking just keep some sand paper around.I don't know about that mineral oil ,streaking and all. Perhaps using it on soap stone will bring better results. I won;t go in to why I hate that stuff !

[Warpy]

3. They use soapstone for high end woodstoves, so you're OK

putting it in a relatively high temperature area and where temperature changes will be frequent.

It's a soft stone (one component is talc) that isn't that great for high wear things like countertops or the prized soapstone sinks, IMO, but as long as you don't wear your suit of armor when you sit on it, you should be just fine.