Want to Make Your Own Catlinite/Pipestone |
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This is a very large piece of catlinite or red pipestone and would work great for a one-of-a-kind sculpture out of catlinite. This is one of the most impressive pieces I've seen a long time. It measures app. 12" long(a full foot!) x 8" tall and it's app. 5-1/4" thick. This piece could also be used for many pipes, but rarely does a piece like this become available, so I personally wouldn't use it for that. There is thinner stone available that will work great for pipes.
This is a type of stone where the finished product will turn exceptionally red after beeswax is applied to it. If you look closely at the left-hand corner of this piece, you'll be able to see where I cut a sliver off of it. This piece of stone is from a private quarry about 10 or 11 miles from the Pipestone National Monument. There are no restrictions on how this stone is quarried, so heavy machinery is generally used to remove much of the top dirt layer and any Sioux quartzite that is over the softer layer of stone. This eliminates much of the labor cost, so the stone is generally quite a bit cheaper than the stone from the National Monument Quarries.
This type of stone, in our opinion, is harder to carve than the red Sacred Pipestone from the National Monument Quarries. You may find that your files will dull faster as well as your saw blades. It's also somewhat harder to drill. The upside to this stone is that it turns an exceptionally dark red after it is waxed. It sometimes almost appears a purplish color because it is so red. This type of stone is said by some to have been carved into pipes by Native Americans for 100's of years. It will hold up very well to intense heat.
This stone is being used by many carvers around the world. We have met and talked to carvers who are happy with the quality of it, and we have also met people who have been disappointed with the carveability of it. These are usually people who have also had the opportunity to work on stone from the National Monument quarries and find it more "user friendly".
It's a trade-off because that stone is also quite a bit more expensive. The stone can be cut with a regular hacksaw although in our opinion it is more labor intensive than it's counterpart from the National Monument.
If you are interested in this piece of stone and have any questions about it, please email us or give us a call. If you have a specific size piece of this type of catlinite in mind you can also Contact Us and we will gladly see if we have something on hand that will work for you.
Shipping for this item to anywhere in the continental U.S. is $17.00