Billion Years

This bowl is a billion years old in the universal time clock. Ok, I needed some reason to post a photo of a bowl I just got finished making and inlaying. Yeah, I've been smoking out of it during the course of its finishing. Kind of like putting life in it. Anyway, the catlinite is about a billion years old, and the gold in the wire inlay could also be just as old. And for that matter, the genus cannabis is a few million years old at least! :cool:

Only a stoner could think like this I guess. Anybody else make their own smoking equipment? :pimp:

Does a dented coke can with some holes punched in it count? [attachment=o259342]

I've also used the soda can, toilet paper roll, apple, once and acorn cap for hash in the Marines. :S2:

And to show I'm not crazy about the billion year thing. :D

In a nutshell, the Early Proterozoic Sioux Quartzite of southwestern Minnesota accumulated as sedimentary sand layers deposited by streams that flowed across an erosional surface developed on older Archean rocks. These deposits were metamorphosed by heat and pressure to produce the metamorphic layers of quartzite seen today. The thin 2 to 6 inch layers of reddish-brown catlinite - a metamorphic claystone argillite - is normally found sandwiched between layers of quartzite which is often found under an overburden of 10-15 feet. The catlinite deposits of southwestern Minnesota are estimated to be between 1.6 billion and 1.8 billion years old.
For more information about geologic time, visit our Geologic Time Page.

The specimen above is a great example, on a small scale, of how the deposits appear.

Catlinite is a mineral made up of diaspore, pyrophyllite, muscovite and hematite, along with traces of anatase and chlorite. Catlinite gets it rusty, reddish color from oxidized hematite - an ore of iron. It is composed of: silica (49.01 percent), alumina (35.17 percent), magnesium (0.23 percent), water (5.87 percent), potash (5.62 percent), ferric acid (3.06 percent) and titanium dioxide (0.44 percent).
Catlinite is very soft measuring 2.5 on Mohs Scale of Hardness. That is about the same hardness as a human fingernail and provides the unique sofness necessary for shaping it into pipes and other objects. For more about Mohs scale, go to our Mohs Scale page.

The specimen above is a great example, on a small scale, of how the deposits appear.

Minnesota Pipestone (Catlinite) from Rockman

I need a new T5 light so maybe these can get one for me!!! Gotta do something to keep from going crazy in today's wacky world full of liars and fuck-ups wanting to tell me what I can and can't smoke. Put some of that green in one of these and you'll know what a smooth smoke is. Glass can't hold a candle to stone!!!! And its hard to break, not like your $75.00 modified light bulb that goes Humpty Dumpty after accidentally falling off the whatever!!!! :lol5:

showing the stone's red better.

Is there any significance to the symbols?

I've never toked from one of those so I may have to give it a try. :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by BlueBlazer

Is there any significance to the symbols?

I've never toked from one of those so I may have to give it a try. :thumbsup:

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Not really. A star burst, a diamond, and chevron. What ever pops out of my head!!! I'm thinking yin/yang, star, whatever comes into my head when I do it. The chevron is sterling silver, the other two 14 ct gold. :D

They're 3" or so long and 1" thick with a 5/8 or so deep bowl that is 1/2 diameter. :smokin:

How hard is it to carve one of those? Last time I carved anything was in Cub Scouts I think . . . :D

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Originally Posted by BlueBlazer

How hard is it to carve one of those? Last time I carved anything was in Cub Scouts I think . . . :D

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These took about 4 hours or so each to make. Its a fairly hard catlinite. Part of the block I got has a contact area where its really, really hard. I've had softer, but these weight 85, 80, 79 grams. And they're much harder then soap stone. :cool:

Looks good Gypski :thumbsup: I had one kinda similar that an Apache friend of mine made me.

A few years back while hiking the Adirondacks, we got to the
top of this one big ass mountain with a beautiful view, and realized we didn't have any papers or a pipe to smoke this really good
skunk that we had brought with us.

So I removed a 6 inch X 3/8 inch piece of the aluminum tubing that was part of my
backpack frame. I found a sharp jagged edge of a boulder and started rubbing the
piece of tubing on it about an inch from the end until it made a small hole.
We then placed some killer bud into the hole and of course the end of the tube
made a great carburetor.
It looked like hammered-hell, (and thousands of years old) but it worked great!:jointsmile:

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BlueBlazer;Is there any significance to the symbols?

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The symbol on the middle one is an arrow pointing to the mouth end BB. :D

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Originally Posted by gypski

These took about 4 hours or so each to make. Its a fairly hard catlinite. Part of the block I got has a contact area where its really, really hard. I've had softer, but these weight 85, 80, 79 grams. And they're much harder then soap stone. :cool:

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I think I'll spend the dough and buy one that's already made . . . otherwise I foresee lost digits :eek:

I've been surfing for them this morning and there are some really awesome sculptured pipes out there. I bit pricey, but definitely look bad ass.

I think that's very cool that you make your own. :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by BlueBlazer

I think I'll spend the dough and buy one that's already made . . . otherwise I foresee lost digits :eek:

I've been surfing for them this morning and there are some really awesome sculptured pipes out there. I bit pricey, but definitely look bad ass.

I think that's very cool that you make your own. :thumbsup:

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Some of the Native American made one's are awesome and pricey. Some on the net, I've seen for a few years. And the one's from some of the online headshops are way over priced for what they are. Sweatshop made!!! :D

My price for these is $40.00. to cannabis.com. :pimp:

Nice works Gypski, I like your choice of a ancient medium to make the pipes out of. The most I have made was a coconut chalice, got the coconut at the Latino market (most of the coconuts I see in supermarkets are unsuitable), chopped down the bamboo with my machete but I bought the kutchie (bowl piece) it was handmade though, I would have made the kutchie but but the only person I know with kiln access a Sculptor named Ming Fay (can probably find his art online) I haven't seen in about a decade so felt a little weird showing up not knowing if he would remember me or not to request access. Shame too because I know where to harvest fresh clay, some cool shit too, it is a Grey color but fires to a really nice red from the iron content I believe.

Anyways, cracked my Coconut some time ago and haven't gotten around to crafting again, always busy with something it seems, plus some of the antique tools I have collected over the years have been lost, so I am doing my work with not-my-first-tool-choices.

here's a pic of a random coconut chalice I just googled, new computer so don't got any pix of mines on it..

edit:: oops first upload attempt failed, adding another pic too, I want to figure out how stands like these are made. I just use a cast iron thingamajig (wow spellchecker didn't even flag that word!) that I found in this old dilapidated house years ago at a colonial village tourist destination. We started walking through the woods and found out there were all these old crumbling foundations from the original village, the tourist site was just all new constructions and some restored ones too, where we went was, out of bounds so to speak ;)

Awesome pieces guys! How would one go about getting you that $40?

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Originally Posted by budlover13

Awesome pieces guys! How would one go about getting you that $40?

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send me an e-mail [email protected] and we can make arrangements. :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by RedLocks

Nice works Gypski, I like your choice of a ancient medium to make the pipes out of. The most I have made was a coconut chalice, got the coconut at the Latino market (most of the coconuts I see in supermarkets are unsuitable), chopped down the bamboo with my machete but I bought the kutchie (bowl piece) it was handmade though, I would have made the kutchie but but the only person I know with kiln access a Sculptor named Ming Fay (can probably find his art online) I haven't seen in about a decade so felt a little weird showing up not knowing if he would remember me or not to request access. Shame too because I know where to harvest fresh clay, some cool shit too, it is a Grey color but fires to a really nice red from the iron content I believe.

Anyways, cracked my Coconut some time ago and haven't gotten around to crafting again, always busy with something it seems, plus some of the antique tools I have collected over the years have been lost, so I am doing my work with not-my-first-tool-choices.

here's a pic of a random coconut chalice I just googled, new computer so don't got any pix of mines on it..

edit:: oops first upload attempt failed, adding another pic too, I want to figure out how stands like these are made. I just use a cast iron thingamajig (wow spellchecker didn't even flag that word!) that I found in this old dilapidated house years ago at a colonial village tourist destination. We started walking through the woods and found out there were all these old crumbling foundations from the original village, the tourist site was just all new constructions and some restored ones too, where we went was, out of bounds so to speak ;)

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Different medium that's for sure with those coconuts!!! Goes to show people will smoke out of just about anything!! :lol5:

This has gotten my mind working. I'm trying to think of a unique medium now.

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Originally Posted by gypski

Different medium that's for sure with those coconuts!!! Goes to show people will smoke out of just about anything!! :lol5:

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might have been different at some point but Rastas across the world have been using these and ones like the next attachment for a very long time. Both are called chalice or chalwa (chillums/kutchies are sometimes also referred to in this manner), you'll often hear references to the before mentioned terms in Reggae music, most people got no idea what it means, just that it has something to do with Ganja.(see Ras Trent lol)

Some people use rubber tubing in the construction but of course the use of rubber piping is discouraged as it is not natural. They aren't really "recreational" smoking devices, rather ceremonial for lack of a better term.

The "kutchie" part is basically a chillum affixed onto the body of the pipe , a smoking device introduced to the Caribbean by Coolies (indentured servants of Indian heritage brought in to work the plantations) Actually many parts of Indian culture and their religions influenced the Caribbean culture and even found it's way into the Rastafari movement.

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Originally Posted by RedLocks

might have been different at some point but Rastas across the world have been using these and ones like the next attachment for a very long time. Both are called chalice or chalwa (chillums/kutchies are sometimes also referred to in this manner), you'll often hear references to the before mentioned terms in Reggae music, most people got no idea what it means, just that it has something to do with Ganja.(see Ras Trent lol)

Some people use rubber tubing in the construction but of course the use of rubber piping is discouraged as it is not natural. They aren't really "recreational" smoking devices, rather ceremonial for lack of a better term.

The "kutchie" part is basically a chillum affixed onto the body of the pipe , a smoking device introduced to the Caribbean by Coolies (indentured servants of Indian heritage brought in to work the plantations) Actually many parts of Indian culture and their religions influenced the Caribbean culture and even found it's way into the Rastafari movement.

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I'm thinking of making a couple chillums. Matter of fact, got one drilled, just need to shape it. Lazy, chair lock, Holiday blahs...............:S2:

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Originally Posted by budlover13

This has gotten my mind working. I'm trying to think of a unique medium now.

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I'll just warn you now and save you some time, mashed potatoes don't work very well. :stoned:


Although you can create a reasonable model of a mountain . . .

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Originally Posted by gypski

I'm thinking of making a couple chillums. Matter of fact, got one drilled, just need to shape it. Lazy, chair lock, Holiday blahs...............:S2:

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cool, good luck. I've seen some pretty cool chillums made out stone as well as Ebony wood before.

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Originally Posted by RAINHAZE

. . . The symbol on the middle one is an arrow pointing to the mouth end BB. :D

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Missed this earlier. That must be the one you use when you're very, very stoned. :S2:

These pipes get chilled naturally just sitting around and need to get lit to warm them up occasionally!!! :D

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Originally Posted by gypski

send me an e-mail [email protected] and we can make arrangements. :thumbsup:

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Just to up date those who have contacted me at the e-mail address, I will have my shopping cart up and running as soon as my SSL certificate is applied to the web site shop.redstonepipes.com. I want to thank everyone for their great compliments, and if you decide to get one of my pipes, I will make sure you are satisfied with your purchase. Please have a little patience while I work out the kinks in the online store. :thumbsup:

BlueBlazer, yours in on the way, and I sent your tracking number. :cool:

Man I can't wait. You are a stone cold good dude. :D

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Originally Posted by BlueBlazer

Man I can't wait. You are a stone cold good dude. :D

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Here's what the pipes look like roughed out before they are totally finished and inlayed. Its a big contrast to the finished product. These are in the pipeline (pun intended) and will be on view as a finished product in the next day. :D

Well friends and neighbors, I received my pipe.

[attachment=o262030]

Let me tell you, this photo doesn't do it justice. I'm not sucking up to gypski here, but I think this is my favorite pipe ever.

When I received the package, I immediately took the pipe to my den and christened her. As I was having the first bowl, I realized that the pipe fit in my hand just right. I can't believe how mild the toke is. Even when I shared a bowl with my cousin, the pipe stayed cool and so did the smoke.

The stone this pipe was made from has a rich Native American tradition. The quarry was a no-arms, no hostilities zone for all tribes to come and collect the stone for their peace pipes. So this stone has been a symbol of peace and goodwill for over 2000 years. The stone itself is over a billion years old. It just blows my mind to contemplate. I find myself fingering the smooth surface of my pipe like a worry stone.

All in all, I'm well satisfied and deeply pleased with my pipe. Also, let me add that it's an honor to be your first customer and to have my testimonial on your web page gypski.

[attachment=o262032]

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Originally Posted by BlueBlazer

Well friends and neighbors, I received my pipe.

[attachment=o262030]

Let me tell you, this photo doesn't do it justice. I'm not sucking up to gypski here, but I think this is my favorite pipe ever.

When I received the package, I immediately took the pipe to my den and christened her. As I was having the first bowl, I realized that the pipe fit in my hand just right. I can't believe how mild the toke is. Even when I shared a bowl with my cousin, the pipe stayed cool and so did the smoke.

The stone this pipe was made from has a rich Native American tradition. The quarry was a no-arms, no hostilities zone for all tribes to come and collect the stone for their peace pipes. So this stone has been a symbol of peace and goodwill for over 2000 years. The stone itself is over a billion years old. It just blows my mind to contemplate. I find myself fingering the smooth surface of my pipe like a worry stone.

All in all, I'm well satisfied and deeply pleased with my pipe. Also, let me add that it's an honor to be your first customer and to have my testimonial on your web page gypski.

[attachment=o262032]

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Leaves me speechless!!! :thumbsup:

Chillum with the Chinese rak symbol. Rak means weed. The wire is the same width, its because of the roundness of the chillum that one side looks like a calligraphic script. In actual view its even. The script for the symbol is from the Oracle Bone Script of China's first writing system from 3,500 BP (before present) :stoned:

To those who may be interested. I take photos as I make the pipes. At this stage, the chillum is done, and it has an orange star (inclusion) at the bottom of the symbol. A small feature I put there to enhance the rak (weed) symbol. the middle on has the He symbol in Chinese, and it means harvest. The two to the right will go through another sanding with 5 different grits of sand paper to give them a smooth, glass-like finish and remove any uneven surfaces. :cool: blueblazer can qualify that! :thumbsup:

Smooth as silk. :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by BlueBlazer

Smooth as silk. :thumbsup:

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You can keep it shiny by putting a little vegetable oil on a paper towel and rubbing it in, then wiping it off with a cloth. :thumbsup:

I'll do that.

By the way, I named my pipe.

Seeing as how Earth Mother is one of mankind's oldest myths, I decided to name her after one of Earth Mother's incarnations from my own distant heritage.

Freyja

In Norse mythology, Freyja is a goddess of love and fertility, and the most beautiful and propitious of the goddesses. She is the patron goddess of crops and birth, the symbol of sensuality and was called upon in matters of love. She loves music, spring and flowers, and is particularly fond of the elves (fairies). Freyja is one of the foremost goddesses of the Vanir.

I understand that it is pronounced Fry-ya in Danish which has a double meaning that I find very appropriate. :D

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Originally Posted by BlueBlazer

I'll do that.

By the way, I named my pipe.

Seeing as how Earth Mother is one of mankind's oldest myths, I decided to name her after one of Earth Mother's incarnations from my own distant heritage.

Freyja

In Norse mythology, Freyja is a goddess of love and fertility, and the most beautiful and propitious of the goddesses. She is the patron goddess of crops and birth, the symbol of sensuality and was called upon in matters of love. She loves music, spring and flowers, and is particularly fond of the elves (fairies). Freyja is one of the foremost goddesses of the Vanir.

I understand that it is pronounced Fry-ya in Danish which has a double meaning that I find very appropriate. :D

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Interesting. I read a book on Norse mythology and the Norse gods last spring. Interesting stuff, and how they related to the culture. As all cultures gods did in strange ways!!! Good name, may it bring those things to you!!! :pimp:

Ha, ha. Look at the time stamp on my last post. Guess everyone knows what I was doing as 2010 closed. :S2:

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Originally Posted by gypski

Interesting. I read a book on Norse mythology and the Norse gods last spring. Interesting stuff, and how they related to the culture. As all cultures gods did in strange ways!!! Good name, may it bring those things to you!!! :pimp:

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Thanks. Yeah, Norse mythology is generally pretty harsh. Valhalla sounds more like hell than a reward. Freyja would take some of the warriors to her abode along with all the women. The rest went to practice for Ragnarok over and over again, last man standing is hero for the day.

I think I'll just go with Freyja's group, sounds much more promising. :D

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Originally Posted by BlueBlazer

Thanks. Yeah, Norse mythology is generally pretty harsh. Valhalla sounds more like hell than a reward. Freyja would take some of the warriors to her abode along with all the women. The rest went to practice for Ragnarok over and over again, last man standing is hero for the day.

I think I'll just go with Freyja's group, sounds much more promising. :D

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I found the story of Thor (big on Thor in the comic book in the day too) quite interesting, and the different version. Beowolf too. I've been looking around for some Nordic/Runic symbols. :D

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Originally Posted by gypski

I found the story of Thor (big on Thor in the comic book in the day too) quite interesting, and the different version. Beowolf too. I've been looking around for some Nordic/Runic symbols. :D

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I too was a big Thor comic fan. In fairness, Thor is pretty much everyone's favorite Norse god.

This rune is pretty cool:

[attachment=o262132]

EihwazEihwaz: (EI: Yew tree.) Strength, reliability, dependability, trustworthiness. Enlightenment, endurance. Defense, protection. The driving force to acquire, providing motivation and a sense of purpose. Indicates that you have set your sights on a reasonable target and can achieve your goals. An honest man who can be relied upon. Eihwaz Reversed or Merkstave: Confusion, destruction, dissatisfaction, weakness.

Well I'm gonna call this the Harvest Pipe. Compact, 51.4 gms. Has an orange star to the right of the cross bars which are silver as are the bottome wings. The middle and top cap are gold. The back has two stars one of which is white with a dark nucleus, the other ogrange. :cool:

Silver Shield Pipe silver shield, several stars on the side and the back. :D That's it for today. :S2: