The basic tools that you will need to complete this carving are;

Mini hack Hacksaw or Hacksaw blade	Round file or Rasp
Chisel and hammer	Half round Rasp
Silicon Carbide Waterproof Paper

 1.    By my buying my soapstone directly from the mine "Les Pierres Stéatites Inc". in large slabs (75 pounds plus), I am not limited to restricting my ideas of what to carve. This often results in smaller odd shaped pieces of stone being leftover.

   For this carving I chose one of these odd shaped pieces of stone that was on my leftover pallet. I could see that it would fit the shape of the carving I had in mind.

  The piece of soapstone I am using for this carving is 7 1/2" high by 5" wide by 2 1/2" thick.

2. On the linked page is the eagle pattern I used for this carving. The pattern is designed for a 2 1/2" wide piece of stone. If you plan your sculpture to be larger, you can use your computer to enlarge the pattern.

  I have published only the basic outline for the eagle, this allows you be creative with the base. This pattern I am using is 6 3/4" high. I will use the excess stone at the bottom to create the base.If the stone had been taller I would use the extra stone to give a greater height to the sculpture. I am planning for a craggy rock base for my carving, so the lines I am using for the base are very geometric.

3. I have used a bandsaw to cut out the majority form of the this eagle but discovered that I had picked a piece of stone with an inclusion of possibly serpentine in the area of the stone I intended to use as the base. As serpentine does not absorb the friction heat of the bandsaw blade, I finished cutting out the base with my mini-hack and hacksaw blade. See tools