Author Topic: stone tool, edge holding ability  (Read 3659 times)

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Offline ozy clint

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stone tool, edge holding ability
« on: October 31, 2008, 01:54:56 am »
gday everyone, i've never knapped before in my life, so i don't know much. please forgive my naiveity. i've been shooting traditional for about 9 months now. i'm in love with it. my curiousity with all things primitive is growing rapidly and would love to one day hunt with a selfbow and primitive arrows. my question is this- what is the edge holding ability like on stone knifes and arrow points. does the original edge remain lethally sharp for years of normal use or do they require a 'touch up' now and then? thanks

Offline mullet

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Re: stone tool, edge holding ability
« Reply #1 on: October 31, 2008, 08:11:06 am »
  If you mean" normal use" as in sticking stuff, they will get dull or broke. If you mean just carrying them around a few years in your quiver and not shooting them then they would be fine. They might get chipped a little but that would just make another sharp edge.
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Offline Hillbilly

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Re: stone tool, edge holding ability
« Reply #2 on: October 31, 2008, 10:05:20 am »
Stone doesn't hold an edge like steel-that's one reason steel is in common use. It depends a lot on the type of stone, too-something like rhyolite  or raw chert willl hold an edge longer than softer, heat-treated chert. Like Eddie said, a break often exposes new sharp edges. It's not much trouble to resharpen them, either. You can resharpen hafted points without much work. I carry a really fine-tipped pressure flaker in my hunting stuff, it only takes a minute to run a series of micro-flakes down the edge of an arrowhead to touch it up.
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Offline ozy clint

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Re: stone tool, edge holding ability
« Reply #3 on: October 31, 2008, 08:59:19 pm »
i thought that's all you would have to do.
do arrow heads snap very often when shot at game? how do they hold up with rib/scapula hits?

Offline mullet

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Re: stone tool, edge holding ability
« Reply #4 on: October 31, 2008, 10:18:18 pm »
 It depends on the angle and how thick your points are. Marc shot one through the skull a few years ago and got remarkable penetration. There is an article about it in one of the back issues. I shot a hog a couple of years ago through the left hip and the point came out the right shoulder near the neck. It was made from Bern's Obsidean.
Lakeland, Florida
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jamie

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Re: stone tool, edge holding ability
« Reply #5 on: November 02, 2008, 08:34:55 am »
glass style points, as well as chert, have a tendency to break easier after a rib hit but it creates an incredibly damaging edge that is now stuck in the chest of an animal. as the animal runs it is tearing itself up inside. a well placed shot with a stone point whether its glasss obsidian or chert do more damage than any steel point made. peace

Offline D. Tiller

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Re: stone tool, edge holding ability
« Reply #6 on: November 02, 2008, 06:52:06 pm »
Do what I like to do. Haft a bunch of them to foreshafts. Then you have reloads for your arrowshafts. Check your state laws first though. This may be illegal to hunt with. But from what I hear on hog hunting anything goes in TX! Can you chime in on this one Pual?
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