Sometimes, you may accidentally drop or over-chisel your soapstone, causing it to break. However, this does not mean that the project is not a waste. You can still salvage your project, providing you know what to do. How to repair a soapstone carving?
You repair a soapstone carving by adhering it together with epoxy or super-glue. If the adhering surface meets perfectly, then a simple gluing would do. However, if there is a gap between the adhering surface, you may need to file some part of the stone to create stone dust and mix it with the glue before adhering them together.
This article discusses how you can repair a soapstone carving, whether the broken pieces attach perfectly or have gaps between them.
How To Repair A Soapstone Carving?
To repair a soapstone carving, clean the broken surfaces, and observe if both the pieces meet perfectly, with no gap. If there is no gap, simply glue both pieces back, then wipe and sand away the excess glue. If there is a gap, you may need to file some stone dust, mix it with glue and then attach the parts together.
When your stone carving is broken, there is no need to stress over it since, in many cases, they are still salvageable. You may glue them back and then refinish the stone to help hide some attachment lines.
The key is to first clean and then try to put the broken pieces together and see if they fit each other perfectly. If they do, then you simply glue them back.
However, if they don’t, you may need to file out some stone dust, mix it with the glue and then attach the pieces together. You also put glue on the gap. This helps to fill in the gap with something that looks similar to the stone.
You then refinish the stone with some linseed oil to hide the glue lines on the stone.
Step 1: Assess The Damage
To assess the damage, you first need to clean up the area. Make sure to be gentle to avoid stripping away soapstone materials that may cause the broken pieces to not join up perfectly. Try to attach both pieces together and see if they fit perfectly or if there is a gap between both pieces.
To start assessing the damage, prepare a piece of microfiber cloth.
- Wet the cloth, and wring to remove excess water.
- Wrap the cloth around your finger.
- Lightly dab and stroke the cloth surface across both the faces of the broken parts. Make sure to apply light strokes, as your goal is to clean the surface, not to remove stone materials from the broken surfaces.
- Allow a few minutes to air dry.
- Now try to place both the broken pieces together again. Observe if both pieces fit perfectly, with no empty space gap between them.
- You may proceed to step two if they fit together well enough without any gap.
- You may need to proceed to step three if there are leftover gaps.
Step 2: If The Pieces Fit Without Gaps
If the pieces fit without gaps, you can easily reattach them using glue. Simply prepare the glue or epoxy, apply it to the surfaces generously, and attach both. You may need to wipe the excess glue or sand it away after it has dried up.
If the pieces fit perfectly together, then your job will be easier. You simply glue the surfaces back and remove the excess glue.
To perform the process in this step, prepare:
- A microfiber cloth
- A bowl of water
- A bottle of Super Glue for smaller carvings
- A bottle of 2 part epoxy for larger carvings
- Start by checking both the broken surfaces. They should be clean and dry. If not, consider dabbing on both surfaces lightly with a wet microfiber cloth and let it air dry.
- Unpack your Gorilla Glue. To ensure the glue is well properly, shake well.
- Apply the glue to your broken surface by squeezing it on the Gorilla Glue bottle. The adhesive should best be applied on the surface of the main piece of your stone carving, not the broken-off part.
- While applying, ensure to apply the glue generously and close to the edges of the surface. This allows all the surfaces to have glue and to adhere better to the broken part.
- Bring the broken part in and attach both together. Press in slightly to ensure a tight fit. At this point, you may notice some excess glue flowing out. This is good because it means the whole surface has glue, including the edges.
- Wait for about 5 minutes for the glue to cure slightly before wiping off the excess glue with a damp microfiber cloth.
- Allow up to 24 hours for a complete cure. You may also place a clamp to push both parts together during curing for a tighter fit, although this may not be necessary.
- While curing, consider revisiting the stone carvings once in a while. Observe if there is any excess outflow of glue. If there are, wipe them away with a wet microfiber cloth.
- If you noticed dried glue after curing, you might need to sand it away with sandpaper. Consider starting with 800 grit and adjust from there.
Step 3: If The Pieces Have Gaps
If the pieces have gaps, it could be more work for you. You essentially need to clean the surface, find a way to get some stone dust from your stone and mix it with your glue. Apply the glue generously to the stone, and let the excess glue fill the gap. Once the glue is dry, you sand the excess away for a smooth finish.
Sometimes, if your stone carving breaks, some of the edges may also fall off. This means when you attach both broken parts together, you may notice that they do not fit perfectly. There is some sort of gap.
Which means you need to find a way to fill it. Your best option is to file some part of your stone carvings to make some stone dust, mix it with the glue and use the glue to fill in the gaps.
To perform this method of repairing your broken sandstone, prepare the following:
- A piece of cardboard (to mix glue and stone dust)
- A steel ruler or unused spoon (to mix and apply glue)
- A sheet of large paper. Old newspaper works well.
- A file
- Some sandpaper of multiple grits
- A bottle of Gorilla Glue or Epoxy
- Start by checking both the broken surfaces. They should be clean and dry. If not, consider dabbing on both surfaces lightly with a wet microfiber cloth and let it air dry.
- Now, observe around your stone carvings to see if there are areas with a similar color to your gap, and decide if you can file away some parts of it to make some stone dust.
- If possible, use a file and file out some stone dust. Ensure you have a way to catch it with a large piece of old newspaper.
- Unpack your adhesive. Give it a good shake or mix together to ensure the glue is well mixed.
- Squeeze a generous amount of the glue on clean, dry cardboard.
- Add in your stone dust, and mix well using a steel ruler or unused spoon. Gorilla glue is transparent in color, so it should take up your stone dust color rather easily.
- Observe if the color is similar to your stone carving. If not, you may need to add more stone dust to your glue mixture.
- Apply the glue to your broken surface by scooping up the glue, and let it fall off your ruler, much like honey from a spoon. The adhesive should best be applied on the surface of the main piece of your stone carving, not the broken-off part.
- While applying, ensure to apply the glue generously and close to the edges of the surface. This allows all the surfaces to have glue and adhere better to the broken part.
- Bring the broken part in and attach both together. Press in slightly to ensure a tight fit. At this point, you may notice some excess glue flowing out. This is a good thing as it means all the surfaces have glue on them, including the edges.
- Also, observe if the excess glue fills up the gap. If not, simply apply excess glue directly to the gap.
- Allow up to 24 hours for a complete cure. You may also place a clamp to push both parts together during curing for a tighter fit, although this may not be necessary.
- Once fully cured, you may use sandpaper to slowly sand away the dried, excess glue.
Step 4: What To Do If The Broken Piece Is Large?
If the broken pieces are large and gluing alone may not be enough, you may consider drilling holes on both sides of the pieces. You then insert a metal rod and then glue both pieces together. The metal rod provides additional adhering surface and structural support.
At times, the broken piece may be large and heavy, and simply gluing alone may not be enough to support the piece from breaking off again in the future. You may need additional reinforcement.
You can provide additional structural support and gluing help by drilling holes on the broken surface of both pieces, inserting metal rods into the holes, and then gluing both pieces together.
This process may require precision, as you must ensure the holes from both sides of the pieces align. This ensures the pieces can take in the metal rod and still fit well together. You also want to be gentle. If you drill too hard or too fast, you risk causing the edges to break away, or worse, breaking the stone.
To perform the process in this step, prepare:
- A microfiber cloth
- A bowl of water
- Some quality 2 part epoxy
- A drill with drill bits of multiple sizes.
- Metal rods
- A cutting plier
- A ruler
- A marker pen
- A round file
- Start by checking both the broken surfaces. They should be clean and dry. If not, consider dabbing on both surfaces lightly with a wet microfiber cloth and let it air dry.
- Observe both the surfaces of the broken pieces. Try to identify if there is enough depth on both sides for you to drill a 1-2 inch (2.5 – 5cm) hole. If the pieces are large and there’s enough depth, you may drill a deeper hole.
- Measure up the position on both sides with a ruler, and mark the drilling position.
- You may proceed with drilling now. Start with the smallest drill bit with the lowest torque setting. Drill slowly and stop once desired depth is reached.
- You may switch to a large drill bit if you want a larger hole. Remember to keep the drill speed slow to lower the risk of the stone breaking.
- Stop once the hole is large enough to accommodate your metal rod.
- Now, conduct a test fit. Fit the metal rod into one side of the broken piece, and try to bring the other in. If you measure your holes correctly, the pieces should fit together perfectly, with the metal rod inside.
- If not, perform some adjustments using the round file. File out parts of the hole to help the stone pieces to fit together.
- Continue the process until the pieces fit perfectly.
- Unpack your 2 part epoxy and mix well
- Fill part of the holes of both pieces with glue. Also, apply it on the surfaces as well. Be generous with the glue.
- Slide in the metal rod on one side of the hole. Ensure glue oozes out from the hole so that you have the whole space filled with glue.
- Bring in the other broken piece. Push in and ensure both pieces fit perfectly together.
- Excess glue may flow out at this time. This is good because it means the whole surface has glue, including the edges.
- Wait for about 5 minutes for the glue to cure slightly before wiping off the excess glue with a damp microfiber cloth.
- Allow up to 24 hours for a complete cure. You may also place a clamp to push both parts together during curing for a tighter fit, although this may not be necessary.
- While curing, consider revisiting the stone carvings once in a while. Observe if there is any excess outflow of glue. If there are, wipe them away with a wet microfiber cloth.
- If you noticed dried glue after curing, you might need to sand it away with sandpaper. Consider starting with 200 grit and adjusting from there.
