Stone Carving Tools, Alabaster and Soapstone from Sculpture House

Stone carving is an age-old form of sculpture whereby pieces of natural stone are fashioned by the removal of stone in a pre-determined way to achieve a specific design. To carve the many types of stone available, sculptors turn to fundamental hand carving chisels, hammers, specialty tools and accessories.

There are many types of stone to carve but, there are some carving stones that are the favorites of carvers, instructors and students - soapstone and alabaster among them. As with all natural materials there is some variation to be expected. The color swatches in all our images are examples of stones and do not represent the colors or patterns of every piece or any piece in it's entirety. Mother Nature controls what is inside the stone and the stone you receive may be different than pictured.

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The basic steps in stone carving are design, percussion removal in three stages (roughing, secondary shaping, and smooth finish), hand rasping, sanding and finally finishing and mounting. The stone carving tools used to perform these functions are considered hand-held unless specifically described as pneumatic or electric. The primary tools needed are the point, rake (tooth chisel), the flat straight chisel and a hammer, all of varying sizes and weights. All are made of high carbon steel.