New to knapping and goy a question.

[BHTGdogs]

I can not for the life of me thin a piece can someone explain how to do it? Im just not grassping this I have watched breaking rock one and two but still just cant figure it out.

[Outbackbob48]

BHTGdogs, It takes lots of practice, an lots of stone . Maybe this will help, You need for flakes to run to center or past center so that flakes from other  side come to center a rock gets thinner. When I started I couldn,t get flakes to center so as width was reduced the point actually looked to be getting thicker. Don,t give up it just takes time an if you can get to a knappin or have someone  help you in person it deffintly shortens the learning curve. This is a hobby of tonnage, the more tons of rock you break the better you will get. Good Luck an Hope this helps ya. Later Bob

[BHTGdogs]

I'm taing a knapping class at cahokia mounds in collinsville may 9th but that is a long time away. Is there one kind of rock that is easier to learn on.

[Sparrow]

I get a big amount of the thinning done in the spalling stage when i am just making a nice pre-form of the flake,once past the percussion,I am usually pretty thin by the time I am ready to start using a pressure flaker,'course, I am making working points and they seem to come out around 7 to 1 ratio and not super thin like alot of guys like to make them.Some are around 8 to 1 but that's about as thin as I can go anyway I knap. I have learned alot in the last four months from sitting in on one little knappin and watching some clips on you tube.I have not done alot of knapping lately except for some points I'm making for a buddy down south and I don't have an inside knapping place so the snow is slowing me down.Can't seem to knap good outside in the cold,I just end up breaking alot of rock and not getting anything out of it except frustrated. How you support the piece when running either percussion or pressure flakes off the work is really the thing to learn. Breaking lots of rock helps to get that part down.   Frank

[Hillbilly]

Platforms, platforms, platforms. Angles, angles. angles. That's the main gist of knapping. Make a good platform below the center line of the piece and hit it at the right angle, and you get a good flake. Flakes follow ridges. Flakes will not run through a concavity without stepping. Flakes don't run as far on a flat surface as they do on a convex surface. A flake following a ridge on a convex surface will run a long way. Good flake go past the middle of the piece. Intentionally-made short flakes will make a flat surface convex, or move a platform below the center line. If you take off good flakes at the right places, you get a thin point. Get DC Waldorf's book "The Art of Flintknapping". Watch knapping videos on Youtube. Break lots of rock. Go to knap-ins.