Bifurcates

[Hummingbird Point]

Please add your own to this post.

I had some scrap rock to clean up and bifurcates have always been a favorite of mine.  I am notching impaired, and symmetry impaired, so this form does a good job of compensating for that.  These are done with antler, plus a little wood on the last one.

Rainy Buttes and a really cool looking piece of Kentucky Hornstone:


Raw Flintridge and green North Carolina Rhyolite:


Then I fell off the wagon and started hitting the hard stuff again with quartz and quartzite:



Keith

[iowabow]

I have only see one guy knap with wood. Do you also pressure flake with wood? I will try to punch a couple bi out tonight and post some tomorrow. That stone just looks tough to me. Great job.

[iowabow]

Looking at that quartz just makes my hands hurt lol.

[iowabow]

One more post is that quartz as hard to knap as it looks?

[turbo]

Nice job on these and all the points you've been posting. I know that green NC well, where did you pick it up? That's the good grade.

[PeteDavis]

FR, KCQ, Smoke Hole.



PD

[nclonghunter]

Keith, nice work on those points and love those fall leaves even if they are Sweet Gum...lol

Pete, also good work but I cringe every time I see that yellow quartz..

[Hummingbird Point]

iowabow,

Personally, I don't use a wood pressure flaker.  I do have a dogwood Ishi stick, but seldom use it, prefering antler.  On the quartzite, and any really tough stone, you have to be very sparing with the pressure work or you end up with too thick of an edge, and really need to make a percussion pass to make the blade edge look right.  That is where I think the little peg punches really come into play, although better yet is to not fool with the orginal percussion edge too much and "perfect the point to death" as I so love to do.

Most pure quartz actually is fairly easy to flake.  It pressure flakes very well.  What makes it hard is the unpredictability and frustration of all the internal cracks and such.

Keith

[iowabow]

Next time you make one can you post it in 3 phases of production.

[Zuma]

Bird,
 I wrote an article for Indian Artifact Mag 30 years ago or so.
It's called "The Point of Persistance".  If I can find the mag I'll
send you a copy. It's just two pages.
Looks like you use those words to keep you smackin that nasty
Todays copper entry lol
Zuma

[Hummingbird Point]

Nice job on these and all the points you've been posting. I know that green NC well, where did you pick it up? That's the good grade.

Turbo,

Believe it or not I got that rhyolite from a guy on ebay about a year and a half ago.  It was a mixed box of green, gray and black, everthing from real nice stuff like that piece to really unfriendly type material.  I don't remember the guy's name but the box shipped from Siler City.  On the one hand I would love to find more of it, on the other hand I know it is kind of special stuff and hard to come by.

Keith

[turbo]

Nice job on these and all the points you've been posting. I know that green NC well, where did you pick it up? That's the good grade.

Turbo,

Believe it or not I got that rhyolite from a guy on ebay about a year and a half ago.  It was a mixed box of green, gray and black, everthing from real nice stuff like that piece to really unfriendly type material.  I don't remember the guy's name but the box shipped from Siler City.  On the one hand I would love to find more of it, on the other hand I know it is kind of special stuff and hard to come by.

Keith

Ahh, yeah, I have all the grades you mentioned, the green is by far the best our state has to offer, it's our 'novaculite'…lol..

[Outbackbob48]

Here's a pic of the only bifurcate that I have made, need to make more of these. Bob

[nclonghunter]

Bob, I found one in a field many years ago that looks just like the one you made. Nicely done!

[Outbackbob48]

Thanks Lyman, all the old ones that I have seen in collections looked like that to me also. Bob