Flint knapping first try

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Pitchy
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Flint knapping first try

Post by Pitchy »

First try at flint knapping, knocked the bottom out of a beer bottle by shaking a big nail in it then used a rock to chip it into a arrow head shape.
Then used a huge nail too chip away at it and the result thus far, I`m afraid to go much further in fear of breaking it.
It still has quiet a bit of curve to it, any knappers here?

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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by wecsoger »

Nicely done for a first try.

I was going to pop in here and ask where you were getting your flint.
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by Pitchy »

Thanks, I don`t have any flint trying it with glass first.
The problem with beer bottles they are so concave and ya gotta try and work that out.
I narrowed it up a little and calling it good with this one and will look for bottles with flat bottoms.

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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by Marvin S »

My knapping consist of chert rock usually found in creek washes. I attack it with a hammer until something resembling a gun flint fly’s off. Then a little work with a brass or copper rod, and jaw it up. Sparks as good or better than most.
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by 3leggedturtle »

Nice, been wanting to try that I have a bunch of Poplar walking sticks I’d like to lash some of those on. Todd/3leg
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by Pitchy »

Thanks I`ll probably wait for it to warm up so I can do it outside, to much mess in the house but it was fun.
Never thought I`d get that far with it without breaking it. :)
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by Nath »

Marvin S wrote: Sat Mar 10, 2018 1:17 pm My knapping consist of chert rock usually found in creek washes. I attack it with a hammer until something resembling a gun flint fly’s off. Then a little work with a brass or copper rod, and jaw it up. Sparks as good or better than most.
Same for me.
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by Pitchy »

Thanks Nath. :)
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by GunnyMack »

Pitchy you are one of the guys I want on my 'team' when the schmutz hits the fan!
I never woulda thought about practicing on glass! But I suppose flint/obsidian are virtually they same as a bottle.
Very nicely done!
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by 3leggedturtle »

Gunnymack, lots of videos on YouTube and the survival forumns showing how to nap arrowheads out of glass. Todd/3leg
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by Blaine »

I've got a basketball-sized obsidian rock in my front border wall. I knocked a few chips off of it. So sharp it would cut your skin by barely touching it. :shock:
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by Pitchy »

Thanks GunnyMack, yep Todd`s right do a search on making a arrow head from a bottle.

Cool beans Blaine, now remove everything but the arrow head. :wink:
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Re: Flint knapping first try

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Pitchy wrote: Sat Mar 10, 2018 4:08 pm Thanks GunnyMack, yep Todd`s right do a search on making a arrow head from a bottle.

Cool beans Blaine, now remove everything but the arrow head. :wink:
I'd be no good at it and it's too pretty to remove. I enjoy seeing it every time I leave the house. 8) 8)
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Good start Lenn. I am a poor knapper, but have made a few projectile points that look pretty good if you are standing 10 yards away ...
Three tools help -- an abrading stone to abrade the edges of your work, which actually firms them up so that you can drive off bigger flakes, rather than crushing the edges; antler tines, as the antler seems to grab the glass surface, again helping you drive off flakes; and a piece of heavy copper wire -- grounding wire is great -- mounted in a wood handle to used for the finer work. Like antler, copper seems to grab hold of the slick glass/chert/obsidian/flint surface. It is much "grabbier" than the steel in a nail and is very useful in nibbling out the notches at the base of your point. A fourth tool is handy when reducing larger material to the flakes you want for working up points. I't called a "copper bopper." Take a copper pipe cap, heat and dome it out with a ball peen hammer, fill partially with hot lead and affix to the end of an appropriate diameter dowel or tree branch.

http://www.flintknappingtools.com/copper_boppers.html

I have been a member here almost since it started. Fabulous resource for knapping and all the paleo arts!

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/paleopl ... rums-f154/
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by Bill in Oregon »

By the way, an excellent material for honing knapping skills is broken toilet porcelain. It fractures very much like flint, and is known among knappers as "johnstone" or "thunder chert." Lenn, here is your old mouse trap friend Shawn Woods making an "arrahead" out of johnstone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwzFgmhNMVs
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Re: Flint knapping first try

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Bill in Oregon wrote: Sat Mar 10, 2018 6:51 pm By the way, an excellent material for honing knapping skills is broken toilet porcelain. It fractures very much like flint, and is known among knappers as "johnstone" or "thunder chert." Lenn, here is your old mouse trap friend Shawn Woods making an "arrahead" out of johnstone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwzFgmhNMVs
Thanks for the info Bill, I just happen to have a old toilet :D 8)
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by OldWin »

Good job bud! That's a neat skill to have. I've never tried it. Knew a guy that could years ago.
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Re: Flint knapping first try

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Bill in Oregon wrote: Sat Mar 10, 2018 6:51 pm By the way, an excellent material for honing knapping skills is broken toilet porcelain. It fractures very much like flint, and is known among knappers as "johnstone" or "thunder chert." Lenn, here is your old mouse trap friend Shawn Woods making an "arrahead" out of johnstone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwzFgmhNMVs
He makes it look so easy...I'd end up with a pile of broken white chips. :lol:
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by gcs »

Can you use old plate glass? I have half a pail full that i saved to try but havn't yet.
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by Pitchy »

gcs wrote: Sun Mar 11, 2018 8:31 am Can you use old plate glass? I have half a pail full that i saved to try but havn't yet.
By what I`ve seen on youtube yes but it should be thick glass, try a search on youtube. :)
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by marlinman93 »

With Oregon being mostly volcanic rock laden, a lot of arrowheads found around Oregon are often obsidian. Obsidian is a very easy material to work with for knapping, compared to things like glass. Much stronger, and less apt to fracture as you work it down, unlike glass that's fairly brittle.
You can find obsidian rock for about $5-$6 a pound online, and flat rate boxes aren't too spendy. Might make life simpler to start with obsidian and be able to have a pound to make a lot of arrowheads.
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by gamekeeper »

I'm surrounded by flint where I live but I've only ever managed to Knap a couple of flints for a flintlock I once had. I must try again, useful skill to acquire... 8)
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by Pitchy »

I`d like to round up some kind of rock to try, will look into buying some.
Thanks guys, I made up a few tools this morning and will give it another try one of these days.

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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Liking your boppers, Lenn. Don't forget to abrade your edges to strengthen your "platforms" so you can drive good flakes. I actually have a broken piece of grinding wheel in my knapping box for this, although almost any hard rock will do fine. Some guys press their core/preform down really hard on the leather pad on their thigh before striking the platform in hopes the flake will drive farther across the core. Others - especially with obsidian -- will clamp a finger under the platform for the same purpose. Keep Band-Aids handy!

:lol:
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by Blaine »

Keep Band-Aids handy!
I kid thee not: I sliced my finger open on a piece of obsidian just as easy as if it were a scalpel.
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by Bronco »

Long ago heard that obsidian scalpels were sharper than steel.

Got this off of Google... so it has to be true :wink:

Well-crafted obsidian blades, as with any glass knife, can have a cutting edge many times sharper than high-quality steel surgical scalpels, the cutting edge of the blade being only about 3 nanometers thick.
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by M. M. Wright »

Lenn, I have an ancient flint quarry on my place. I'll knock off a few pieces and send them to you. PM me your addy.
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by piller »

Flint and obsidian can both get an edge which is thinner than the edge of steel. As far as it cutting, yes flint and obsidian can have edges which are sharper than steel.
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Re: Flint knapping first try

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Rocks found wherever you have access can be used as flint. A hammer to break off a piece is helpful. The inside should be slick and almost waxy in feel. If it is, then you have a rock you can use as flint. If you have some steel with you, such as a carbon steel knife, or even a good shovel, you can try the broken edge of the rock on the steel and look for sparks. If you get sparks, it is good. The rocks found in a river bed may be useful, but don't violate any laws. Some States don't let you take rocks from riverbeds.
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by Pitchy »

Thanks everyone there doesn`t seem to be any correct rocks around here in this sand country.
Ron that would be great, PM sent. :)
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by marlinman93 »

Some obsidian "blades" found in Indian camps from the past barely resemble what we would think is a skinning or working blade. But often the person needing a good cutting edge simply gave the obsidian rock a hit, and got a nice sharp edge, so there was no reason to go further to make it pretty. They simply used it for the purpose and it worked. Finding artifacts that are nicely shaped isn't easy, as the owners who spent a lot of time shaping them didn't simply leave them laying around their camp.
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Pitchy, I left behind several hundred pounds of Oregon obsidian when I moved here. Wish I had known you were a future knapper. I have mailed a few flat-rate boxes of it to friends in the past.
Here is how it occurs at Glass Buttes in central Oregon -- in long fissures of surface material just sitting there for the picking.
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Here is info on the annual Knap-in at the Buttes. The time I went, there were people attending from as far away as Britain and France.

http://www.pugetsoundknappers.com/event ... ement.html

I have watched the guys spall big chunks like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTAhOPuLT1Q
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Re: Flint knapping first try

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Thanks Bill, I know you would send me some if ya still lived there . :)
Looks to be plentiful. 8)
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Lenn, there is gobs of flint and chert in Texas if you are ever down there again. I found some great stuff along the back roads in the Hill Country south of Comanche while looking for my great-great-grandmother's grave. Also, the Alibates flint up in the Panhandle is legendary. Road trip!

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Re: Flint knapping first try

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M. M. Wright wrote: Tue Mar 13, 2018 10:16 pm Lenn, I have an ancient flint quarry on my place. I'll knock off a few pieces and send them to you. PM me your addy.

Did ya get my PM?
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by M. M. Wright »

Sure I got your PM Sent you a box of rocks. Should be there soon. My kids busted up a rock that must have weighed 20 pounds just to see what kind of flakes they could get off it. I made them wear safety glasses and use an old hammer that I didn't care if the face got nicked up. They had more fun out of that rock than a remote control car. A couple of the flakes could be used to gut and skin a deer.
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Re: Flint knapping first try

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Cool beans Ron, look forward to getting them. 8)
I think kids can have fun with about anything. :)
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Re: Flint knapping first try

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Figures about the time I say something it comes in the mail, holy molly Ron there`s enough rock there to supply a whole tribe with arrow heads. 8)
Thanks buddy I appreciate it and I hope I can get at least one arrow head out of it. :lol:
Ya better pm me your addy so I can pay ya something. :)

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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by KirkD »

Nice work on your glass knapping, Pitchy. Keep us posted on how it goes. I tried it as a kid, but it always broke on me.
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by Pitchy »

Thanks Kirk, I haven`t got back to it yet been busy building another crystal radio.
Been kinda waiting for it to warm up so I can let the chips fly outside. :)
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Re: Flint knapping first try

Post by OldWin »

You got more projects going than anyone I know, Lenn.
Ya make me look plumb lazy.......and I am. :D
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