wire on my ishi stick keeps bending!!

[beartail]

whene I first started using my ishi stick I had no trouble. now that I can use it more efficiently I keep bending it.i have the largest dia wire I can find in it. what can I do to stop this?

[TRACY]

Sounds like it is sticking out too far from the tip to me. Picks of it and platforms attempted to cause this would help. Platform may be too stout or not prepped properly to cause the bending. Are you using twisted copper wire or nails? If your using copper wire without twisting or hammering first, then it will bend easily. Sounds like a correctable problem with  more info!


Tracy

[Chippintuff]

I had the same problem early in my knapping, and a I discovered exactly what Tracy said. I would add one more thing; The angle of the flaker in relation to the flake being attempted has a lot to do with it. The more pressure you can put toward the end of the flaker, and less sideways, the more power you can put into it. Now I can strain till my eyes bulge out and not bend the wire.

WA

[beartail]

ok yall,ill work on that.sorry I never have any pics.dont have a camera.

[TRACY]

ok yall,ill work on that.sorry I never have any pics.dont have a camera.

No problem! Are you using copper wire or copper nails for your Ishi ?

Tracy

[Ghost Knapper]

I thought the same thing regarding the wire vs nail. I never had success with wire in my ishi sticks even when it was spun and made so that not much stuck out the end. Now copper nails for me have worked great with minimal bending.

[caveman2533]

hammer it square angles are stronger than rounds.

[beartail]

yea,im usin twisted wire.might have to find some copper nails online and order a couple.
gonna hammer the one in it square and see ifin it helps.thanks yall for your help

[Stringman]

I think I have about a 1/4" or less sticking out the end of my ishi. It never bends. 

[Chippintuff]

I use nails and hammer the ends also. It is surprising how much difference there is in the hardness and strength of the nail after it is hardened. If the Ishi stick has a blunt end, I find it necessary to have more sticking out the end. The Ishi sticks that are more pointed allow for a shorter projection of copper. What size nail will your stick take? I may be able to send a couple with the next mailing.

WA

[JoJoDapyro]

I use wire. But it is super thick. The stuff that they ground power poles with. The copper tube is 3/8

[bubby]

I use both but my copper wire is 1/4" it don't bend

[Wolf Watcher]

Copper wire can be either soft or hard drawn.  If you are using the soft wire it must be hardened by hammering into a point.  Hard drawn copper like the wire used in cross country power lines or for ground wire found on telephone poles can be used without any hammering.  Like has already been mentioned keep the tip short!  Joe

[mullet]

This is kinda funny. I just read an article in Chips, that I got from Joe, wolfwatcher, about Ishi. It seems that the person that wrote the article did extensive research on Ishi's knapping tools and technique. He said that Ishi never used a device that looked or worked like an Ishi stick or ever abraded with an abrader other then his pressure flaker. He said Ishi built his next pressure flaking platforms by crushing the old edge with his soft nail pressure flaker.

It was an interesting read. I tried the crushing on some precut slabs and it worked pretty good.