KY Blue Cumberlands

[leapingbare]

Been on a cumberland kick.
Here are two cumberlands made from KY Blue.
This cumberland is 5 inches and hase some nice color for the rock type!

[leapingbare]

I really like this one allot!
At 6 3/8 inches its a pig!
This was a made from a supper high grade piece of KY blue!
Left some crust on the tip i tried to keep some crust on the base but just could not pull it off. if you look close you can see a color change on the tip of the ears, almost kept it.
 The other cumberland in these photos is a cast of the famous cumberland found in Colbert Co. AL.

[Jaeger]

better n the original

[Sparrow]

Them be pretty flutes.  '  Frank

[JustinNC]

Never a let down when you show your work!

[mullet]

  You are the Cumberland Man! Nice ones.

[RidgeRunner]

Nice.  Real Nice.
I have seen you use the jig to flute yours....

How do you suppose the anchent ones were fluted?  What are your thoughts on that subject?

David

[gutpile]

dude when you make that flute I assume you smack it pretty good...what is your holding technique for that much of a whack on the ends,,,do you bury the point end against leg and hold outer edges?.....

[leapingbare]

I use a jig. It puts over 100lbs of presser on the nipple before the flutes come off.
Ive studied some real ones and I think they used a type of primitive jig that applied presser some way.
They were paleo indians and were hunter-gatherers i don't think they would carry around a large fluting jig from place to place so it has to be something easily made and left behind after use.
 I know some knappers have used a small Green sapling with fork, they would cut a notch for the point on one fork and strap a piece of antler to the other. Then apply there body weight to make the antler make contact with the nipple and apply more weight to remove the flute. I have not seen anyone run a flute off the tip on a point over 4 inches using this method. How ever i think its on the right track. Its something I'd like to look into more.
 Also from making cumberlands i have learned allot about the preform set up before the flutes and when i do my stage 3 percussion work i hold my billits on the caps and use them like hammer stones. this helps in building the median ridge aka steep diamond cross section needed for the flutes to travel to the tip.
We need time travail

[knap_123]

awesome dude!!

[HoBow]

Very nice!

[bryan irwin]

nice work jesse .

[jamie]

awesome as always. love to see what you come up with if you delve into a primitive jig. i tried the fork and not having much experience with flutes i wasnt very successful other than getting an average flute. something i could of achieved with direct percussion.

[arappaho]

Beautiful rock and Beautiful flutes, Jesse.
I would love to hear what it sounds like when one of those flute flakes is coming off.

What you were saying about the diamond shape of the preform is very helpful, makes a lot of sense,
and has got me thinking. (and that can be a dangerous thing  )
But what if the Guilford people were descendants of the Cumberland and they just stopped putting
the flutes in as time went on. 
A time machine would certainly help. I could pick you up an hour ago.

Thanks for the pics, Awesome work,
Joe

[leapingbare]

sure Joe but I probably wont be ready 

Sure thing Jamie. I got to see what i can come up with.
I am 99% sure they fluted with pressure. Just got to find out how.