What should I do with this?

[cowboy]

Hey George: We need to meet in the middle sometime so i can give you some of these Pedernales cobbles to work on (unheated). Once you get good at spalling, bi-facing and working them in whatever ya want then you will be "stellar" . That rock still does have plenty of potential - but it's gonna take a few gusto shots to get that cortex off..

[gstoneberg]

I'm headed west later today to get a couple days of hunting in.  Are you in Texas?  I actually tried the northern route to the lease once and came pretty close to you.  Took a lot longer, but it'd be worth it for sure to put a face with the name and get some pedernales.

I know I'm going to have to really hit this thing.  That's when I snap the long ones it seems.  But, there's no other way.  Might take it out to the lease and work it a little.

George

[cowboy]

Nope, still in MI. Will be in next weekend but as always - busy, busy. Surely i could find time to meet up with ya somewhere though, hmm.

[gstoneberg]

I'll be in Lakeland, FL a week from tomorrow.  Plan to visit Eddie while I'm there.  Be back after that.  Are you staying home awhile or heading back out?

[Bill Skinner]

Your edges where the cortex  is henging is too high, you have got to go way below center line and you have to grind a good solid spot to hit to drive those flakes.  Also, you need to flatten out your swing to get those long flat flakes, you are hitting at a downward angle.  If you are holding it in your hand, your swing should almost be horizontal.  If on your leg, move it to the outside of your leg and hit it straight down. 

[gstoneberg]

OK, thanks Bill. I'll try that when I get back to camp.

Thanks,
George

[gstoneberg]

Well, I pretty much failed on this one.  It turned out that there were 3 layers of rock.  There was good flint, then on top of that is the same color as the flint, but it has shiny flakes of something in it.  Then there was the cortex on top.  I was able to get the cortex off, but never was able to knock off that other layer.  I'm down to a neck filet knife size and it still isn't right.  Here's the good side:



it knapped very easily.  Here's the other side.  The edge is down to good flint, but the center is all the other stuff.



I tossed it in the bucket and thought I'd try a point.  This ushered in a period of knapping I have named, my Achey Breaky time ....





I didn't take pictures of the ones I broke before they got to preforms.  Frustrating as a couple of those had nice color patterns.  Maybe I can only knapp in my shop???

George

[Bill Skinner]

I will guess that the light is different.  That's why you broke everything.  And some days, everybody breaks everything.

I would pressure flake a beveled edge on that blade and make a neck knife.  It is a good shape and length for a necker.  As you use it and resharpen it, you will work past the hinge, when you do, you can try to run a series of pressure flakes down the blade to thin it some but I would not, it will be be getting narrow and the thickness will strengthen the blade.  Once you actually start using stone tools, you won't be quite as impressed with the super thin show pieces.  There are certain things that really thin is great for like arrow points, but the thicker ones also were made deliberately.  And most knives were thicker than the replicas most modern knappers make, they had to be, your life might depend on it not breaking. 
One last thing, you did not fail.  You made a knife blade.  It may not look like what you had planned but it had a few quirks that you didn't know about when you started knapping it.  You actually over came and solved some problems that you didn't know that you could.  It actually made you a better knapper.

[Sparrow]

That last picture looks familiar. I think I got a few of those in my bucket. Keep on chippin'  '  Frank

[warhawk]

I keep them and make bird points or small arrowheads.

[gstoneberg]

Thanks guys.  I try to learn from  mistakes, but it seems painfully slow to me.  I had a beautiful point going today and tried to thin one of the corners on the base and knocked off the whole corner.  From then on it was a scramble to recover.  I still cannot do corner notches at all.  Ended up with a little 100gr point.




Had one step I couldn't get out, but I think it'll hunt OK.

George