Pressure flaking rhyolite...

[JustinNC]

Is there a secret lol? Using all abo tools. I was looking at some of my artifacts, and it appears most of them weren't pressure flaked, a few obviously were. My limited experience also leads me to believe small hammer stones would be most offective at trying to get a thinner biface. Dogwood and larger hammerstones obviously do a pretty good job early on. I also wonder how often, and what types of antler would have been used in NC. I know moose works really well on rhyolite, and will get a moose billet eventually, but wondering if that was ever historically used in NC. Trying to stick to stuff I know was used locally.

[JackCrafty]

I think elk were a lot more common in NC back in the day.  Moose, I dunno.  Seems moose like colder weather.

I've tried rhyolite and I alwyas end up pressure flaking around the edges of a nice thin flake, to get it triangular shaped, and then call it good. 

[JustinNC]

Yeah I snapped an uber thin bird point pressure flaking (basically crumbling) away what didnt look like an arra head. Could see light all the way through it. Had to happen, but didnt mean I wanted it to lol

[nugget]

I ahve done some flaking on rhyolite. Usually end up wearing out an antler pretty quick. Copper works decent.

[JustinNC]

Tj I'm still trying to spall some of that I got in november out. It ate hammer stones til I could get some platforms set up.

[nugget]

well we need to get together and bust some rock and practice.

[JustinNC]

you got that right. My trouble is thinking 5 steps ahead to get platforms set up. I brought home the "perfect" hammerstone for spalling that hard stuff out, and danged it didnt split on me too. I got a persimmon that's been drying a couple months that's got a couple billets hiding in it.

I need to find some different hammer stones, the source Ive been "borrowing" from is relatively soft, grabs flakes well, but soon as you take too big of a bite and hit too strong of a platform, they'll split in half.

I also need to watch some of them hill folk work it. I want to be able to work this stuff.....or any stuff in particular, but I refuse to cut my teeth on anything else, any other way but abo.

[arappaho]

Hey Justin,
Don't know what to tell you about pressure flaking the stuff. Everyone I've seen do it is
muttering and spitting under their breath.
But I was just wondering if you have seen any sign of Bigfoot over there while you're collecting rock.
Apparently there's a man from Salisbury says he has and they are going to be out there this Saturday
with a film crew.
http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/9069503/

I've got a field trip to a quarry to go on this Saturday, but a bunch of us were thinking about
putting on some wigs and hides,(those that need more body hair anyway), and heading on down there.
Be kindof a hoot to swing on a rope across the path infront of this film crew!
I don't know what these guys think they're doing, everybody knows Bigfoot lives in Georgia.

Joe

[JustinNC]

No bigfoot yet! I thought they killed him in GA a few years ago, Joe?

[rwaterman00]

with rhyolite
 most all the work is done direct percussion. only pressure flake the deltas off
i dont work alot of rhyolite but do work argillite. dogwood billets work to get nice thin spalls. ( a wood baseball bat works if ya saw it off 1/2 way) but doesnt last like dogwood.
hammerstones and dogwood billets, and lg whitetail.if you want to be geolocically correct for n.c. i i dont think elk were ever there. to far south i think. 
try bone for the pressure flakeing

anyway i posted some argillite tonight. i use most all percussion. only pressure flake to straighten out the point a little and remove the deltas

[Hillbilly]

Actually, the better grades of rhyolite pressure flake pretty good, don't have much problem with it, you can even pattern-flake it if you have a good continuous platform. That grainy porphyritic stuff is harder. I've seen James pressure flake some really tough stuff with wooden flakers, takes some practice.

with rhyolite
 most all the work is done direct percussion. only pressure flake the deltas off
i dont work alot of rhyolite but do work argillite. dogwood billets work to get nice thin spalls. ( a wood baseball bat works if ya saw it off 1/2 way) but doesnt last like dogwood.
hammerstones and dogwood billets, and lg whitetail.if you want to be geolocically correct for n.c. i i dont think elk were ever there. to far south i think. 
try bone for the pressure flakeing

anyway i posted some argillite tonight. i use most all percussion. only pressure flake to straighten out the point a little and remove the deltas

Elk were actually common here before they were killed out in the late 1700's-late 1800's. Plenty of historical documentation. And a lot of the NC point styles were completely pressure flaked from rhyolite. Some of the bigger stuff like Savannah River were all percussion with slight pressure retouch, but stuff like Palmer, Hardaway, Kirk, and all the later stuff like Yadkin and the woodland/Mississippian points had a lot of pressure work on them.

[jamie]

on the tough stuff i use my legs to pressure flake. hold the piece on my inner thigh. hold the tine in my hand against my other thigh and squeeze my legs together. its important to prepare the platform with the tine too. i do very little grinding with abraders when using tines. i also use a flat tip on the tine. too sharp and it just breaks the tip off. do your edge work with a sharp tip. peace

[Bill Skinner]

If you can't get bone, use the main beam of the whitetail, what's left after you cut the tines off.  Grind it to a point abd then grind the belly off so it tapers up.  If you want to do it Abo, soak it for about a week, it gets soft enough to work.  Or use a side grinder.  Either way, it is going to smell up the area.  Once it dries out, the smell goes away, the smell on your hands will go away in about a week.  Bill 

[JustinNC]

I think I need more mmphh...longer pressure flaker. Right now Im using a 6" spike or so, and it's hard to get any leverage.... and definitely need to work on platform preparation

[JustinNC]

Actually, the better grades of rhyolite pressure flake pretty good, don't have much problem with it, you can even pattern-flake it if you have a good continuous platform. That grainy porphyritic stuff is harder. I've seen James pressure flake some really tough stuff with wooden flakers, takes some practice.

with rhyolite
 most all the work is done direct percussion. only pressure flake the deltas off
i dont work alot of rhyolite but do work argillite. dogwood billets work to get nice thin spalls. ( a wood baseball bat works if ya saw it off 1/2 way) but doesnt last like dogwood.
hammerstones and dogwood billets, and lg whitetail.if you want to be geolocically correct for n.c. i i dont think elk were ever there. to far south i think. 
try bone for the pressure flakeing

anyway i posted some argillite tonight. i use most all percussion. only pressure flake to straighten out the point a little and remove the deltas

Elk were actually common here before they were killed out in the late 1700's-late 1800's. Plenty of historical documentation. And a lot of the NC point styles were completely pressure flaked from rhyolite. Some of the bigger stuff like Savannah River were all percussion with slight pressure retouch, but stuff like Palmer, Hardaway, Kirk, and all the later stuff like Yadkin and the woodland/Mississippian points had a lot of pressure work on them.

Yeah my palmer, kirk, and yadkin were the ones I was refering to as to having noticeably pressure flaked. The Savannah River, and Guilford that are rhyolite that I have appear to be mostly percussion......with step fractures galore.

My problem, Ive come to realize since posting the original post, is not setting up my pressure flaking platforms correctly, or not abraiding and setting up too weak of platforms? and getting micro steps that I'm having trouble working back out. Seems like it breaks off, leaving tiny steps, and Im having trouble working either side of it again to get a platform to get rid of the now, too strong, thick edge.

II dont have any primo stuff, but I've got and seen a lot worse grade than what Im working right now.