Soapstone room divider as a "heat sink"

[Cath]

So I was checking out Craig's List last night and came across a soapstone room divider / screen. It's 72" x 72", made up of four 1" thick panels.

I'm not wild about the painted oriental motif. However, does anybody have any thoughts on whether this would make a good "heat sink" if it were placed close enough to a wood stove? If so, how close would it have to be? As much as I'm not wild about the design the item is probably worth a lot more than the asking price and I wouldn't want to ruin it.

Thanks, ~Cath

 

[babalu87]

Who will move it?

I got a piece of soapstone from an OLD sink, guy at work gave it to me. Cut for a pizza stone. It is HEAVY!
After making the cuts and smoothing the surfaces I put it on the woodstove to season it with canola oil.
Took if off and put it on the stovetop at around 9:30, it was still warmer than the room at 5 AM !
A 72 X 72 made of 1" thick pieces would weigh as much or more than a wood stove.

I know this pizza stone wont crack. I GOOOOOOOOGLES soapstone cooking and was surprised by what I found and learned alot.

Easy stuff to work with, cut like butter with my concrete blade on the circular saw. Now I want soapstone counters

 

[swestall]

Ditto on weight and difficutly of moving Cath....not impossible.

As for Soapstone it will suck up the heat and is a great product.

Counters, that's be nice.

It's just a Soapstone world....

 

[babalu87]

I think your getting jyped on the stoves though, that stuffs 300-400 million years old

Too bad about the sink this stone came from, guys house is an antique and the sink was in the basement washroom forever. Search craigslist for them , WOW $$$$$$$$$

It broke when he moved it

 

[swestall]

My Mom has one of those in here laundry room, it's about 12 feet long with three sinks about 2.5 feed deep each.
Perhaps I should snag it before she sells the house, then rent a big truck to get the thing home....

 

[Highbeam]

The thing about it cutting like butter makes me not want to use it for a countertop. Too soft if we can't even set a steamer kettle on it.

 

[dsil]

that thing looks way too oriental, and do you think it is solid soapstone? how would it stand up safely if it were?

 

[swestall]

It'd be plenty safe, unless it fell on someone!

 

[babalu87]

The thing about it cutting like butter makes me not want to use it for a countertop. Too soft if we can't even set a steamer kettle on it.

Huh?
Cant set a kettle on it?

 

[Cath]

that thing looks way too oriental, and do you think it is solid soapstone? how would it stand up safely if it were?

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

This is an odd item. Why would anyone paint soapstone?

Hard to tell if it is solid due to the painting. It does have short "legs" so those may be added on. But could any other material really carry the weight? As far as how safe it is standing up. I would imagine it's stable as long as it is semi folded. Nevertheless I would probably try to stand it against a wall and secure it.

On the subject of weight. I have heard that a 1" thick piece of soapstone that is 12" x 12" would weigh about 20 Lbs. So, if my math is correct, it would weigh about 720 Lbs if it's solid. YikesCan that be right? That would explain why the seller can't take it when he moves.

72" x 72" = 5,184 divided by 144" (12" x 12") = 36 x 20 Lbs = 720 Lbs.

My husband is pretty strong and is very good at moving large heavy objects. He is very conscious of the importance of body mechanics and proper posture. Using a dolly, he has moved refrigerators and other heavy appliances by himself. But he would obviously need some help with this.

As far as the oriental design, I could totally appreciate it in someone else's house but it's not to my personal taste. I would like to know what the reverse side looks like. That's probably the side that I would display.

This only interests me if it can serve a really useful purpose which would be to turn some of the convection heat of a wood stove into the more comfortable time released radiant heat. Which brings me back to the question of how close it would have to be to the stove to capture a meaningful amount of heat.
~Cath

 

[Burn-1]

The thing about it cutting like butter makes me not want to use it for a countertop. Too soft if we can't even set a steamer kettle on it.

Huh?
Cant set a kettle on it?

You can definitely set a kettle on it. But soapstone is basically talc which is really soft. That's sort of the idea. Over the years the counters take on a little patina and show some scratches. If you want a glossy, spotless surface it's not for you but it's very durable, heat, acid and stain resistant and easy to maintain. You can even darken it up with some food grade mineral oil.

I already have a sinking fund set up for the new counters and I'm going with soapstone and butcher block. There's lots of suppliers out there but I think I going to go with Pierre Family Steatite out of Quebec. They have a ton of information on their soapstone counter site which includes some great how-to videos for a DIY installation. I don't have a ton a seams or a lot of square footage. It's $57 a square foot shipped to you. They also cut soapstone for masonry heaters.

 

[babalu87]

After seeing what I did to that 120+ year old sink when I have the money to throw at a new counter I am going full speed ahead with soapstone. The built in dish-drain is BRILLIANT!

 

[Highbeam]

People are worried about setting things on their soapstone stoves for fear they will dork up the finish. That's why it would be too soft unless of course you like the scratched up look. Maybe you do. I want the finish on kitchen counters to remain glossy and smooth so that I can be sure it's clean. I cut up lots of meat and do what I can to prevent contamination.

Can't argue with the looks though. That's why I bought a soapstone stove.

 

[Tink]

We'll be doing soapstone counters in our farm house. I love the look, scratches are easily sanded out, and it's natural stone, chemically inert, and we can fabricate the countertop from slab ourselves. I never drag heavy items around on the counters, and it's just two of us here. I'd love to have white carrera marble, except for the chemical reactions from sitting acidic foods on it, and it absorbing stains.

As far as the soapstone divider goes, it could very possibly make a great heat sink. I would hope that one side would look nice with no stone inlay. I would question the differences in thermal expansion between the soapstone, the inlaid other types of stone, and the glues used to hold the inlays inplace. What wouldthe effect of thermal expansion be on the various different stones????

 

[Cath]

... As far as the soapstone divider goes, it could very possibly make a great heat sink. I would hope that one side would look nice with no stone inlay. I would question the differences in thermal expansion between the soapstone, the inlaid other types of stone, and the glues used to hold the inlays inplace. What wouldthe effect of thermal expansion be on the various different stones????

Tink,
You said the magic word ... "inlaid". I only figured it out after googling "screen soapstone". Perhaps it should have been obvious, which might explain why the seller didn't bother to describe it that specifically. My guess is that there isn't anywhere near enough soapstone inlay to act as a heat sink.

In any case, I suspect it's overpriced. It looks like you can get one new for about $500.00 and he is asking $350.00.

But thanks again for the input everyone.

~Cath

 

[tickbitty]

The thing about it cutting like butter makes me not want to use it for a countertop. Too soft if we can't even set a steamer kettle on it.

Huh?
Cant set a kettle on it?

You can definitely set a kettle on it. But soapstone is basically talc which is really soft. That's sort of the idea. Over the years the counters take on a little patina and show some scratches. If you want a glossy, spotless surface it's not for you but it's very durable, heat, acid and stain resistant and easy to maintain. You can even darken it up with some food grade mineral oil.

I already have a sinking fund set up for the new counters and I'm going with soapstone and butcher block. There's lots of suppliers out there but I think I going to go with Pierre Family Steatite out of Quebec. They have a ton of information on their soapstone counter site which includes some great how-to videos for a DIY installation. I don't have a ton a seams or a lot of square footage. It's $57 a square foot shipped to you. They also cut soapstone for masonry heaters.

You're breaking my heart here. A school near here remodeled a couple years ago. I am almost certain they threw away the soapstone counters that were all over the science classrooms, counters desks everything. It's freaking criminal! Whenever they redo the old schools there's usually asbestos somewhere in there so they do all the cleanout with contractors in masks and ghostbuster suits and protect the worksite so you can't scavenge.