Michigan Lightning Stone Spheres

[Rattlehead]

I've found quite a few Michigan Lightning Stones this year and finally got around to making some spheres. I really like this kind of stone.

 

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[curious kat]

Beautiful stone & what you did...don't know anything about "Lighting stones"...maybe you could tell a little about them for those of us who aren't familiar?

 

[waxy luster]

Rick Griffin would be proud.


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[prospect007]

very cool stones. are they found on top of the ground? what are the indicators to finding the stones? I've never seen them before. tanks for the pics

 

[Bajahunter]

Very nice work.
Correct name is septarian concreation for those that want to do an internet search.

 

[Rattlehead]

Bajahunter is correct!

Thanks for the kind words. I've been cutting a lot of these types of stones lately. You never know what you'll find inside, which is cool. I've been experimenting with different stands including wood.

Here is some copy/pasted info I found online about them:
These are Septarian Nodules locally called Lightning Stones. They are found on beaches in the lower west side of MI. They consist of clay cemented onto an iron mineral called siderite. These concretions form in part through bacterial activity. They become fractured and the fractures fill with calcite brought in by ground water. The results forms lightning like patterns on a dark background.

The books say they are "rare" as they are only found in a small area in southwest MI (basically from Holland south to St. Joe). Deerlick Creek Park has a lot of them. But the big ones I find near creeks and in the creeks south of Saugatuck. The biggest ones I've dug out of the walls of the washed out creek.

Thanks for looking.

 

[huntsman53]

Great work! Those are some fabulous looking Spheres on some cooling looking stands! Thanks for sharing!


Frank

 

[war-digs-it]

Those are fantastic! Great work and talent!

 

[hvacker]

Beautiful Rattlehead. I've never seen anything quite like them. Are those stones hard enough be cabbed?

 

[Rattlehead]

Yes, they can make nice cabs for sure.

 

[Eu_citzen]

Very nice!

 

[3stooge]

Really nice stones.

 

[ice9]

Fantastic polish; what do you use? Surprising and amazing for Michigan.

 

[Rockhunter1620]

Way too cool Rattlehead, outstanding!!

 

[digger460]

Never seen anything like that. Very nice craftmanship!

 

[Backcountry]

Cool finds and finished pieces. Very nice!

 

[Rattlehead]

Search for "spheremaker" on Facebook. I post a ton of stuff there

Polish: 60 grit diamond/copper shaping cup. Then series of diamond polishing pads (100,200,500,1000,3000,10,000). Final polish with leather and aluminum oxide. .

 

[meMiner]

Great work. Do you only process your own rocks or would you consider making one from someone else? I think it would be cool to have some nickel/silver mixed ore done like this. Especially, something when sliced has lightning silver (small veins)