Precut Preforms for newbie

[bigcountry]

Ok, I have been reading and watching.  But haven't smacked any glass yet.  I was thinking of buying some precut preforms triangles to work on.

would it be recommended to start with nodules or cores, or even slab or go to preforms?

[DanaM]

Start any way ya can With that said I'm cheap so why spend money on something yer most likely to ruin

[Jaeger]

I think the goal for most of us is to be good at percussion and just use pressure to clean up a point,but you need to learn pressure and glass bottles are a cheap start ,and you will ruin alot of material at the start ,I would not invest in precut preforms ,they will cost you ,slabs are a little cheaper ,or  just do it the natural way just get a load of flakes or spalls and try to learn it all at once,percussion and pressure ,Bill Skinner was nice enough to me to send me a box of rocks to start with for free and I came up with alot of glass windows and bottles ,I am coming along ,that hornstone is made for percussion it knapps beautiful.

[Jaeger]

I am finding out the hard way too much pressure knapping slabs  leaves you where you cannot make a fist and it strains your wrist ,I am liking percussion a whole lot more , I think preform with percussion and finish with pressure is the way to go, very much more enjoyable , if you knapp slabs and ground preforms limit yourself or you will pay for it for a few days in pain.

[bigcountry]

What what is the benefits of making slabs?  Just gives you platforms that are predictable start? 

[sailordad]

I am finding out the hard way too much pressure knapping slabs  leaves you where you cannot make a fist and it strains your wrist ,I am liking percussion a whole lot more , I think preform with percussion and finish with pressure is the way to go, very much more enjoyable , if you knapp slabs and ground preforms limit yourself or you will pay for it for a few days in pain.

if your wrist are hurting after pressure flaking,your technique is wrong
your using too much wrist to pop the flakes,you need to push down and use your legs to pop the flakes

as far as what you should start with,anything you can get your hands on that you can afford.
i wouldnt use proforms my self,too spendy just to wreck them.odds are if your new thats what will happen
i started on some nodules then went to slabs just because i could get them easier(all obsidion at first),but now i crave real rocks
i want to learn to spall.
i have only been doing this knapping thing for seven months and have improved big time since i started,all i really have done is pressure with a little spalling

good luck and keep alot of bandaids near by

[Wildcat86]

Use whatever you can get your hands on to start with. Bottle bottoms are good for starters. Don't make the same mistake I did when I first started. I bought some expensive coral and ruined all of it. I wish I still had it now. Start small and work your way up to better stuff. Good luck chipping.

[Outbackbob48]

Here,s my 2 cents worth. Use what ever material youcan get but expect to ruin alot. If you are buying nodules or spalls don,t try an make a point. OH I know everybody wants to make points but here is my suggestion. Take your spall or nodule down to as thin as you can go with percussion. Just as soon as you start getting stacks an trouble areas don,t keep beating it but put it in a bucket an try an make another preform an quit when It gets to point where your no longer thinning it. Here,s the beauty of it come back in six months an go thru your bucket of preforms an you,ll be amazed at how much further you,ll be able to thin these an finish in to a point. Later Bob

[aaron]

good advice outbackbob- "don't try to make a point". really. preform are just ovals or circles and great to learn.

[StevenT]

I have only been knapping for about 2 months, so I share this as a newbie. I wanted to learn it all and turn out a points right away. I put together a pretty good set of copper tools and ABO tools. The guy that was helping me at first was a FOG speciallist and I got some preforms from him and tried them. I quickly learned one thing, if you don't know what you are doing, you can sure mess up some expensive stuff in a hurry. I then tried working on glass, obsidian and flint and all in one sitting. I couldn't really get the copper working and I had just as much trouble with the ABO. So, back to reading, watching videos and trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. Bottom line was.... I was trying too much too fast. I didn't really understand what tools to use on what matterial. So my best suggestion is simple.... Start simple and take your time. You are going to mess up a whole bunch of stuff before you finally start getting some.. Ah ha moments. But they start coming and then it gets fun.

Keep the good stuff for later. As other have suggested, start with glass. It's cheap and easy to get. And if you can get some glass plate or old TV monitors, you can learn all the fundamentals. I am still working with glass as my primary material. I work obsidian a little because it is so much like glass. And I give flint a try every now and then. But I have a lot to learn and I can afford all the glass I care to break. As a precaution.... You will pay a few dues in blood I can guarantee. Were gloves and use good leg pads. Have some bandaids and super glue handy. My knuckle is just now healing from the knap-in two weekends ago! 

[Newbow]

All good advice:  You're gonna ruin a lot of stuff learning and the cheaper that learning is the better.  I would add that any time spent watching is worth many times reading.  I recommend:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=paleomanjim&view=videos
http://www.youtube.com/user/Flintknappingtips?view=videos
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=FlintknapperJimmy&view=videos
Nearly every step in knapping is covered there somewhere.  Each video will have strong and weak points so far as explanation goes, but if you watch them all and make notes you'll be able to go back to the ones that address whatever your having a problem with and it will shorten your learning curve immensely.

[Pat B]

   Find your local glass company and ask them if you can have scrap 1/4" plate glass. Makes good heads and you can cut your preforms with a glass cutter...or go after hours and do a bit of dumpster diving.