Spalling?

[Allyn T]

I have some big chunks I want to spall-out/flake, I'm really only looking to get arrowheads out of them. My question is will the hammer stone pictures be big enough to get spalls or do I need a bigger one? Any advice is appreciated.

[bjrogg]

It will probably depend on your platforms and the material you are spalling. I actually haven’t done a lot of spalling. I’m not sure how much help I can give.

I prefer a nice heavy large potato shaped hammer stone. Some material will spall better with a harder stone and some a softer stone might be a little grippier.

The material you have in the picture looks like it would be a bit course and probably take a pretty hard large heavy stone.

The size you have might work, but I like a smoother rounder shape.

One way to find out. Give em a good wack.

One tip. You say you just need arrow head sized spalls. I would still try for some nice sized spalls. The points always seem to get a lot smaller than you see in your minds eye when you pick up the spall to work it. Especially when you are beginner.

Bjrogg

[Allyn T]

Thanks BJ yes I meant I want the finished product to be an arrow head and I think I need as much extra material as I can get. The rock I have varies in quality but all of it is pretty darn tough, seems to take a lot of force, but it is razor sharp when I get a good flake. I bled all over my pants Saturday chipping in the creek sorting out which rocks I wanted to bring home : )

[gutpile]

looks like really  tough stuff.. probably need cooking for sure to break better.. I would think you need a hard hammerstone it looks like its cracking what you got.or a spalling hammer. I would attempt the first shot on the corner too...I just bought some more treated keokuck from neolithics dot com.. craig.. he has a good deal on it... and that stuff breaks really really nice.. working on a dagger hopefully with a large piece I got now..so far so good..  gut

[Allyn T]

Yeah gut it is really hard rock, burlington chert mostly I think. Some of it is real slick on the inside and super sharp and some is pure junk. I don't wanna buy any right now cause I'm way in the beginning stages so I'm trying to learn on what I can find for free. I'm gonna check some creeks around here for a few large hammer stones and see where it gets me. I'm also making some lead filled copper boppers too.

[gutpile]

Its addictive brother .. just sayin ... some good bottle bottons .. toilet tank lids old tv tubes all break good ... gut

[Allyn T]

I have some obsidian I did a lot of pressure flaking with but now I'm ready to learn spalling and percussion flaking.

[gutpile]

you start off with percussion on bottle bottoms and tank lids... tv tubes etc.. its a great way to start to get hang of it it.. setting up platforms..learning how hard to hit .. how high .. gut

[Allyn T]

Ah I didn't know it was thick enough for that. This obsidian I have is hard to deal with because there are impure layers running through it so it looks normal and then bam suddenly my spall is half the size it was. It is fun learning though, not quite as fun as bow making bit pretty close. And I can do it at work sometimes

[gutpile]

a small bopper is perfect for bottle bottoms.. most have a concave side that you need to remove small flakes to get lenticular and other side is convex that you need to remove larger running flake to get your lenticular shape.. as for tank lids. you can use small to medium bopper to get the porcelain off.. and edge it with a small bopper too as for the obsidain.. I need to see what you got.. if you hit too high with out setting up a platform correctly you can snap the whole piece.. Its a learning curve.. try not to hit high on end pieces too.. especially if you got one thinned down some.. gut

[gutpile]

there is a good video of a woman making a arrowhead out of a beer bottle bottom.. it is a good educational video and shows the use of boppers in early reduction... Its on youtube Im sure.. gut

[gutpile]

https://youtu.be/xh7pc2Q6XFI                    here it is.. watch it.. enjoy

[Allyn T]

That was a good video. I'll have to try that

[gutpile]

Allyn.. if you want to watch an incredible video of spalling and making a danish dagger with abo tools. look up Will Lord making a danish dagger.. its 30 minutes long but it is incredible.. absolutely amazing... he works some Denmark flint.. I have watched it about 3 times.. gut

[gutpile]

https://youtu.be/YurX0LMBMA0  here it is.. incredible.. he has a few other but this one is killer