obsidian knockoff?

[Papa Matt]

Brothers,

   I recently bought some alleged obsidian rocks in the hopes of learning to knapp them. But I'm in Indiana and have never seen the stuff in the wild so I cannot really be sure if this is the real deal. My wife is from Veracruz, Mexico and she says she used to go out playing as a kid and find it just about anywhere on her father's ranch. (which calls to mind the Aztec and Mayan sword blades that were made from it hundreds of years before her little brown feet touched the ground). She says the obsidian she used to play with was not really transparent and was darker black than this. And when she'd break it, it would chip clean in big flakes. When I try to break flakes off of this stuff, they are sometimes small and almost like dust. This stuff is black, but you can easily see through it. And the strangest thing---if you hit it and it doesn't knock a flake off right away, you will just give the rock a white bruise and this little bruise can explode seconds later and actually shoot out a piee of dust or small flake at you.

Brothers I am new at knapping, but could any of ya's shed some light on this?


Thanks,
            Ol Matt 

[DanaM]

any chance of a picture Matt, it could be some type of slag

[Papa Matt]

Unfortunately Dana, no. Wish I could post some fotos, but right now do not have the capability.

[leapingbare]

Sounds like obsidian to me... part of nappin is to know were to hit it , when to hit it , and why ya hit it were ya hit it when ya hit it there.. ya gatta set up a platform before you strike the rock, failer to have the proper platform set up will result in small flaks or a crumbled edge.
 Obsidian comes in many forms, sometimes black , sometime orange , sometime it has all the colores of the rainbow in it, and evon gold sometimes, all the obsidian I've ever sen ya can see through the thin edges except for dasite witch is a gray type of obsidian.
 My advice is to watch some videos on flint napping and read some books on the subject before you go smashing up all yer rock. I'm not tryin to be rude all nappers start somewere and I'd hate to see you wast your rock.
 Flintnapping takes alot of time frustration, practice a little knowhow and some blood to get the hang of it.. just stick in there and you will be reworded with a awsome new skill. Good luck with your new hobby,  Leapingbare.

[Papa Matt]

Leapingbare,

  I bought 4 pieces for a dollar, and only started striking one, didn't even ruin it. In fact I've got it down to a nice little triangle shape, just wasn't sure what I'm dealing with. Have you ever had it explode like I explained in my first post???

[leapingbare]

Exploading rock  Only in Pappys campfire 

[DanaM]

Exploading rock  Only in Pappys campfire 

That was funny

Matt get yerself a toilet tank thunder chert is great for practicing on, thats what I'm doing due to
the fact that there isn't any knappable rock where I live

[Justin Snyder]

With obsidian you should be able to knock off some flakes.  Look at the side of the flake. It should come out nice and smooth if it is good rock.  It will crush if you hit is wrong.  And some obsidian has a lot of impurities in it making it useless.  Justin

[cowboy]

Matt: I'm curious about the exploding rock, are you saying that as you are bopping and knapping on the rock that the white bruise pops out or it just explodes like it has built up pressure inside? If that be the case then it's a new one on me . Sounds more likely that you struck the platform at too steep of an angle and crushed that area, then it just kind of crumbles out on ya?
 Leapingbare is right - some books, video's would give you a head start. Sitting in with someone would be the best thing.

[Papa Matt]

As far as the knapping, I'm sure I am doing it wrong since I am just trying it out. What I am really trying to do is figure out if it is real or if they 'saw me coming'. cause if its fake I don't want to waste my time on it. And the real reason I question it is because my wife who played with real obsidian in Mexico a lot growing up, says its not like what she used to play with and she would say that its not really obsidian. Would obsidian sell for .25 cents a piece? (a piece being roughly tennis ball size or slightly smaller and rectangular)

As for the exploding, it's really more of a popping of the area where I struck it too flat trying to bust off a flake and it turned somewhat white and a few seconds later, popped and shot off a tiny flake or tiny fragments.

Obviously it would be better if I had pics but I don't have the capability yet. It is black, shiny, and even thick parts are somewhat transparent. Also doesn't seem to have a lot of weight for its size, other rocks could be much heavier.

Just wanted to see what I might find out on here.

[leapingbare]

it sounds like Obsidion to me man.. like i said befor there are a buch of diff types of obsidion... google it.

[D. Tiller]

Exploading rock  Only in Pappys campfire 

KAAAAPPPPOOOOWWWW,  BANG!!!!, POP!!!!

Pappy "Jesse, JJJJEEEEEESSSSEEEEEE!!!!, JESSSSSSSSEEEEEE!!!!!"

Remember the Classic!?!? 

[Justin Snyder]

It does sound pretty low priced to be honest.  But if a guy has a good supply he would probably give it to a new guy.  I would guess it is obsidian.  Can you see any little cracks running through it?  A lot of obsidian has hairline fractures in it and is impossible to get a good flake.  The good thing about it being transparent is you can see if it has cracks or anything.  You probably just need to practice. Go to youtube and search for scalpcreek.  He has some great free videos to get you going.  Justin