question about knapping slabs

[Blacktail]

i have been trying my hand at knapping slabs....i trouble i am having is that my flakes wont travel as far as i want.. i even can make 4-5 passes and i still have saw makes...i can have a 2inch slab and whittle it down to 1/2inch and then the saw marks are off.i am just waisting to much rock....i am doing it the same way graig does it in his movie lap knapping but dont know what is going wrong...SO,if you guys who knap slabs could give me a list of things that might be going wrong that would be great..thanks john

[mullet]

  What kind of rock are you using? It may need heat treating. If it is Obsidian, we need some pictures of what you are doing. If it is Obsidian, I can run a 4" flake, on a slab. I like to start out running short flakes. Then grind the flakes that were run to get the Ovate shape. Then grind the edge again and run flakes to the center or all the way across.

[Blacktail]

eddie,the rock is obsidian..how are you grinding the flakes that you have just taken off....thanks john

[mullet]

   John, I cut my slabs about a 1/4". I run a series of short flakes, about a 1/2" long down each edge. Then I go back and grind the runs down as flat as I can. This starts to give it that rounded look. This also helps the flakes run smooth across the top without diving into the center, like hitting a brick wall. That is what starts the ridges and stacks. When you get that Ovate shape going you lessen the angle the flakes are running. Then, grind the edge you want to run at an angle, like setting up a continious platform. Then run your series of flakes down that side. Then turn it over and do the same thing to the other side. If the piece is real wide, 3 to 4 inches, you might have to use this technique for all four sides.

  I hope this makes sense.  Maybe if I can get the wife to play with the camera and get home before dark I can do a "build a long"

[Blacktail]

eddie,what i have been doing is the zig-zag edge...then sheering the edge to one face then grinding the edge down and taking off a series of flakes...and i repeat this over and over...but for some reason i just cant get the flakes to run more than 5/8 inch.thats my furthest flaking..john

[mullet]

 John, If you do the zig-zag thing, after you do it on your edges the first time; grind your edges hard then you will see that you have a series of "Platforms". Now go back and pressure flake each of those isolated platforms and you should be able to run some long flakes.

[toms22]

Mullet I would like to see how you Knap the slabs. I have ordered some slabs from Craig Rataz and the way he knaps is first zig zag first then he shears the sides. and grinds, then takes off short flakes. I have his video and he really makes it look easy, he has been knapping for several years.

[nugget]

I want to see the Mullet video. Make sure and wear the Kilt when you do it ! 
I run into the problem of stacks with slabs. I also have a problem sometimes with getting an initial flake started. It is like the edge is too slick.

[madcrow]

I don't know what would be scarier, mullet in a kilt, or flakes getting in the kilt.

[Blacktail]

MAN,i tell you..YOU guys crack me up..i have trouble with chipping a slab..and every one wants to see eddie in a kilt....

[mullet]

 You guy's are scaring me.

[Hillbilly]

Well, I definitely DON"T want to see Eddie in a kilt, I already have to look at Nugget and Mechslasher running around in those things. The main deal with running long flakes on a slab is to take a couple passes of short flakes to build up convexity. The flakes will run a lot further on a convex surface than on a flat one. I like to make a pass or two down each side, then zig-zag the edges, and grind up some good stout platforms that are a just a bit below the center line, like Eddie said.

[stickbender]

     Nugget, you need to rough up the edges, and they will flake.  You have to keep abrading the edges you want to flake.  When you flake all the platforms, and are ready to make another pass, abrade the edges, again, and make new platforms, and flake away.
You can flake a smooth edge, but you get better flakes, and it makes it so much easier, if the edges have been abraded.  I watch Claude VanOrder, and Eddie, and Bone pile, and others, and they abrade the hell out of the edges.  Eddie, if you go camping at any of these Knap-ins, I would highly suggest, you leave the Kilt at home, and don't bring up anything that might bring up the subject of a kilt.  I also suggest you wear long pants, and long handle under wear, and don't bother with deodorant, or bathe for awhile......oh and wear loafers, so you don't have to tie, and untie them.  If you get my drift......

                                                        Wayne

[mullet]

  What the heck's a "Loafer"?

[stickbender]

     Apparently you weren't too concious during the sixties.  Don't you remember bass weegins?  And before those, Penny Loafers?
Also see pm.
                                                                                 Wayne