Presseure flaking

[Ryan Jacob]

So up till now, Ive only used direct percussion. I want to start making some nicer stuff. This would entail using pressure. So I tried it but with little success. How do I get the flakes to travel across the face? How does the angle of the platform entail how you apply pressure

[aaron]

part of it is having a nice rounded  lens-shaped cross section
part of it is having the flake follow a ridge
part of it is having nice isolated platforms slightly below center.
part of it is pressing really hard- an ishi stick helps
show us some pics of your tools and a piece youre working on
I really hate pressure flaking- percussion is king!

[Chippintuff]

Administrators: If posting a link to another flintknapping forum is not permissible, please delete this post.

Here is a thread that has a lot of discussion on pressure flaking:
  https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/paleoplanet69529/edge-to-edge-pressure-flaking-help-t46307.html

WA

[Parnell]

It always kinda baffles me when people don’t see percussion and pressure as equally needed when making points.  I’d even argue pressure is the more important of the two for a point that’s worth anything but I’ve seen a bunch of guys just keep banging and breaking rock.

I see pressure as critical, myself.  Anyhow...2 cents.

[Ryan Jacob]

Aaron
I broke the piece (bottle glass) but my tools is just a raw aluminum rod, about 1/4 inch thick. I’m still working on making an ishi stick.

Chippinstuff
I’ll check it out. Thanks.

Parnell
I know. I just never got that good at both. Percussion gives me step fractures if using tough stone and pressure doesn’t travel too far. I’d like to get better at both

[Ryan Jacob]

Also never try o pressure quartzite or basalt. Seems to be a futile endeavor.

[Parnell]

Steps are generally the result of not abrading and improper platforms.  Use pressure to set those platforms up...what I call "backflake".  Identify where you want to drive that flake using percussion, flip it over and pressure flake DOWN not IN to trim your platform, flip it back over abrade the edge, then use percussion...follow through with your strike.

Concentrate on making symmertrically bi-faced preforms before thinking about your point. Pressure/Percussion...Yin/Yang...Up/Down...Wax On Wax Off grasshopper!   

It's always so hard to type and write flintknapping.  Shoot it's hard to help in person!

Hope it may help...

[bjrogg]

Steve I agree with everything you just said there. Especially the being hard to type someone how to knap. I know I should use more pressure flaking to set up platforms for percussion. I've been working on it it and it really has helped. I still need to do it more though. One thing I found that helped me was showing my cousin how to knap. It made me slow down study material, set up platforms, explain what I was doing and tell what I expected flake to do. I'm not sure how much it helped my cousin but it sure helped me.
Bjrogg