Hey guys, new to knapping

[Mesquite]

I've been into native Indian and primitive tech for a couple years now but never really got into making tools or anything until now. In the past week I've made a self bow, collected wood for shafts and trying to find some stone to knap  Jumping in with both feet 

I found this stone that looks kinda like slate but less layered and comes in round mini boulders everywhere that I find it. Sometimes I will find a rectangular piece but I'm looking in dry washes so I imagine everything had been tumbled in flood water. Anyway it seems like it could be knapped into halfway decent points or cutting tools with a little effort and some luck. 
I'll get some better pics and pics of bigger pieces tomorrow, it's dark now and didn't want to bring everything inside.(if I can figure out how to post pics.)[how do I adjust where the pic shows?]

I also pick up bottles and broken glass on the trail to save for practice, I don't have any to show right now but I have a bottle bottom I want to work on tomorrow or the next day.

I need to make some proper tools, right now I'm using random rocks and a copper pressure flaker. I'd like to get some antler when I get more into it.

You'll be hearing a lot more from me now that I found a good forum to be a part of. 

[Mesquite]

Reading over some threads I think it might be dacite, people say it's found in AZ and in the southwest, I'm in NM.

This little piece I've been playing with has really strong, very sharp/pointy points.

[cowboy]

Hey Mesquite, welcome aboard! I don't know what kind of rock you have there but if it'll flake make some points out of it . Get started, post pic's and ask away. Lot's of help around here..

[Sparrow]

Dacite or a high grade basalt maybe. Welcome !  '  Frank

[bowtarist]

Welcome to the addiction!!  Make somethin outta that rock and repost a pic.  We love pics.

dpgratz

[Mesquite]

It really seems to flake well, if at times a little chaotic, but I'm sure that could be somewhat controlled with more skill.  Takes a hard whack to break it up but anything under 1/2 thick chips pretty easily. Would there be any advantage to heat treating it or will that make it too weak? I read you don't want/need to treat dark stone but it works well for dull lighter colored rock.

I picked up 8-10 pieces of trail glass today(I don't know if you guys have a term for man made glass), gonna work on that after I sort this rock. I can get tons of this rock so I hope it works decently.

I'm full of questions guys, hope you don't get tired of hearing me. 

[bubby]

just keep asking and post pics, remember there arn't any stupid questions, just stupid answers , Bub

[Jimbob]

Cant wait to see what you can get outa that rock.

[Mesquite]

Cant wait to see what you can get outa that rock.

Me too  So far all I've gotten so far is a mess. Sometimes it flakes easily but it will be a bad shape, like it will knock off a flake that would be good for working into a point but one side will be like 1/4 thick tapering to the other side which is blade sharp. The smaller your piece gets the harder it is to work with, you have to hit pretty hard to flake more off. Pressure just crumbles the edge or chips out small 1/16-1/8 inch bits.

I want to heat treat it probably tomorrow when I can get outside, I want to do it on the gas range but don't want the rock to explode...no reason to make a mess or lose an eye for a hobby. 

When I knock a chunk off it hits the ground or the rock pile and sounds like I dropped a wine glass...it sounds and looks perfect but has like a cross hatch crystal structure. 

[Bevan R.]

Sometimes it flakes easily but it will be a bad shape

Welcome to my world!!

[Jimbob]

sounds like I dropped a wine glass...

I love that sound!!

[Mesquite]

Having a lot of trouble shaping and thinning. I'm getting big humps in the middle of the point, down the length of it. I try to flake in from the edge but that makes the edge super thin and not help bring the middle down. 

I've never really tried making anything before, just knocked some stone together. Actually trying to do something is much more complicated. 

[gstoneberg]

Yes, that sounds familiar.  I hope to get another thinning lesson from Paul in a couple days.  Sometimes i do fine and sometimes I make a turtle instead of a point.  The more you practice thinning, the better you get, but there are days when I just shouldn't make points.  Keep on breaking rock.  It gets better.

George

[Mesquite]

I guess I was putting too much downward pressure and not pushing into the plane of the piece enough. I made a wooden ishi stick with I think an aluminum nail, its flat silver color and pretty soft.  I can push it into the work much better and then press it down to knock the flake.

I'll have to work on some points and get them posted. I found some other stone to play with and lots of glass.