family blade

[Blacktail]

hey david.i will have to see if dave and keenan are going next year...i love to go..i was there last year but it was on the last day and most peolpe all ready pulled up camp...so,hopefully i will see you there next year..later john

[deerhunter97370]

Thanks for the advise John. Hopefully I can make it there for the nappin in spring. Last year didnt have the gas. Joel

[HoBow]

I realize this is an old post, but could someone post pics of tools they would spall a piece this big out with (or bigger pieces).  Thanks!

[cracker]

  .Ron

[aaron]

jeff- about the tools: most obsidian spalling is done with solid copper billets- like one about the size of a coke can. really big spalls can be got with billets even bigger - up to 30 lb billets! I have tried some spalling with rocks- quartzite works ok, but i havent found a dense enough sandstone that big.

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[Hillbilly]

John, that's cool, nice blade. I'd love to get out to the Buttes someday.

[coyote pup]

Now that's precious. Look at that little hand holding on to the blade. That's boy's a spittin' image of his mommy, ain't he?  Good for you guys and a truly awesome piece of work. I would mount that on to a spear and hang it on my wall forever.


Coyote Pup

[HoBow]

The rock I will be working on is quartzite and the hammerstone I had- a fairly big one- just dented when I tried to spall off a small piece. Should I use a piece of quartzite or a copper tipped hammer?  Is steel hammer ever acceptable?  Thanks for any help!

[aaron]

here we are again where different folks have the same name for different rocks.Quartzite can refer to a knappable rock from the SW, or almost any quartz-rich metamorphic rock that is not quite knappable. the quartzite i use as a hammer is not the same as what you are knapping... so don't use a quartzite hammerstone on quartzite..... nor a steel hammer. a copper hammer is good.
All of my big spalling is with obsidian, so i'm not really sure what works best on the mat'l you have.

[billy]

damn john...that's a beauty!  I tell ya, I've found some high quality sheen obsidian like that, and it is, in my opinion, the best obsidian out there.  It doesn't seem as brittle as the smoky clear stuff, and certainly is a lot easier to knap than that Pumpkin obsidian garbage.  I don't like pumpkin...it's way to brittle.  But that high quality sheen?  Oh man...it's awesome. 

[Blacktail]

yeah billy.i also agree...i have some rock from Davis creek and its more brittle than  some of the glass butte stuff...thats why when i chip obsidian..i really abrade the edges really well...i hate a hing...hey jeffutley57,i used a 5 pound copper billet on that rock..BUT,i have also used 5-10 pound cobbled river rocks too.its just the angle of the dangle..and its also obsidian..flows really nice...john