Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Flintknapping => Topic started by: ricochet on October 27, 2008, 09:15:45 pm
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hey y'all I'm been tryin knappen lately but all i have done is break alot of really nice rock, mainly chert and obsidian. are these a more difficult type of rock to knap? i have some thick specimens and everytime i try to thin'em down they usually break leaving me with really and really small pieces. i have read alittle on the subject from D.C. Waldorf's book. I'm not givin up I'm gonna get it i am open to any and all subjestions i would like to make a knife like i ve seen from the likes of cowboy,el destructo,and Justin. thank y'all
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find you a couple of discarded Toilet Tanks....and start to practicing!!....It's free....and you don't have to go any further than the neighborhood Plumbers....or even the local Alleys for that matter.........and then start making some Thunder Chert Points and Blades
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jhone stone is free but tuff to knapp, i'd keep knapping what yous knapping or look around your area for a source of rock.
Watch the flint knapping videos on utupe the best thing to do is link up with other knappers like at a knappin and get some one on one, and thin just practice.
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Ricochet;
Just keep at it. And remember to abrade the heck out of it. I have finally gotten to where I can make a decent point now, but it takes me forever, and just today, I had a really nice, 1 3/4 inch long, by 3/4 wide arrow head out of obsidian, and as I was putting the finishing touches on it, it broke in half! Plus as I was putting that back in the bucket, I noticed that I had sliced the tip of my left index finger, with a flake stuck in the leather pad. That and the little pieces that flew off and stuck in my inside right inside middle joint of my index finger. A bit of blood, makes you appreciate what our ancestors went through to learn this art. Afterward, I found another piece of obsidian, and actually made a decent point out of it. Just keep at it, and remember your mistakes. I didn't keep the first piece protected so it would not break, and put too much pressure on it, at that point while pressure flaking. But the next one I was a bit more careful. I was actually making more long furrough type of flakes, than I had been before. Still not consistent, but better than before. If I had my leather glove on, I probably wouldn't have cut myself, and I could type a little faster without my index finger tip being sliced. Just don't get in a hurry. And don't smash the rock to bits after it breaks, or refuses to be thinned out. The Lithic Gods are just testing you, to see if you will be a good steward of the rocks spirit. Unfortunately the ones in my rock have a great sense of humor! " Ok, keep the flakes small, and when he gets to the middle, give him a big flake, and lets see his expression, as it takes a big chunk out of it, and ruins his arrow head, and then as he tries to make a smaller arrow head out of the remains, let it break! "
Wayne