Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Flintknapping => Topic started by: gstoneberg on November 21, 2011, 10:29:00 pm
-
I grabbed a new spall to work tonight. It started like this:
(http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6055/6380042541_e9631cc1ae_z.jpg)
The initial thinning went very well and I got to a preform quickly.
(http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6052/6380042039_cb916acd04_z.jpg)(http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6115/6380041335_2eef1f40fe_z.jpg)
Looks fine so far. But a side view shows the problem...and if you look at the left-most (first) picture above you can see a big dip on the left side of the rock extending about 2/3 of the way across.
(http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6035/6380043087_6d6a2accc4_z.jpg)
I'm stymied now with what to do. Any ideas? I should've looked closer before I started. I don't know if I can make anything from it.
George
-
Are neolithic spear points all perfectly knapped?
-
That looks Georgetown'ish George :). I picked up a ton of that stuff and most of it has those fractures in it like that. If ya take it real easy it might not break but if it does i see a couple of nice triangles in there..
-
Yep, it's got at least one serious fault line running through it. Drop it a couple times and it will break apart where that crack is. Then see if you can make a couple smaller points, like Paul said.
-
As always, you guys were right on the money. It took just one drop to get this.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7010/6386887681_0a24757a31_z.jpg)
I saw 2 points in there too, but it didn't work out that way. The narrow end of the rock knapped completely different on the 2 sides. One side was wonderful, flakes peeled off like butter. The other side stepped on virtually every hit. I finally ran out of width and gave up. Then, I went to the other half. It went better, still very tough rock, especially at the base. I got a point though and should have stopped...but I thought I could get the notches a little deeper...
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7156/6386888493_7a63f3c087_z.jpg)
Shux.
George
-
That looks awful familiar :o Better luck next point ' Frank
-
Thanks Frank. Sadly my last few points have not been picture worthy. It got so bad I'm taking a weekend off to work on bows. Maybe my fortunes will improve when I get back at it.
George
-
I have periods like that with other stuff. It's usualy a product of rushing, corner cutting (no pun intended), or just being in the wrong mind frame gets me out of the groove.
Walk away from it for a bit is a good idea and take a step back, work on something easier and practice your technique. Not that I'm a knapper, yet. But in general that is what has helped me with other stuff, Carving, technical trading, bow making etc.
-
Yes, you're probably right. Today I had a friend over reloading .308 ammo. When he got going I went over to the tarp and started on a point. Finished it just after he left. Did more pressure flaking on this one than normal, but you'd never know it by looking. I still stink at running flakes out to the center with pressure. I also lost the symmetry at the base. As always, I had one beautifully thin deep notch and the other one stalled. By the time I got it going again I had to open the good one up to match. At least it's something I can put on an arrow at 130gr.
George
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7006/6405867871_ac6f620b1e_z.jpg)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7005/6405868361_64c4eeb28f_z.jpg)
-
Thats a nice lookin point George!