speaking of knives

[Grizz]

my wife surprised me with one today that I never thought I would ever have:

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when you hold it to the light the top edge is transparent and the bottom edge is sparkly.

you can see the swirls of the different minerals from the cool down time.

a local knapper made this one. I think he gets his flint in OR.

I can't imagine what I might ever use it for. I'd feel really lame if I broke it. the odds are high, I'm pretty good at breaking stuff.

Any flint knife fans here-abouts?

[Dewight]

My brother use to be a knapper until it hurt his wrists too much. He made an Indian style one for me. I used it to skin two bucks one year. Was as good or better than a steel skinning blade.

[Pitchy]

Never had one but that looks pretty cool and a nice gift.

[bdhold]

cool knife and great gift.

[Pete44ru]

Wimmen're full 'o surprises - good on her, and CONGRATS !

.

[dogngun]

Beware of that edge..they are fierce sharp and will cut you deep before you realize it.

Flint edges are actually sharper than surgical scalpels.


mark

[Blaine]

I have a hunk of obsidian about the size of a bowling ball...they little flakes that come off it are sharper than razors....scary sharp

[Dave]

That knife is pretty cool.

[DixieBoy]

Blaine mentioned obsidian. Like the flint the Indians knapped into spear points, arrowheads, skinning and scraping tools, obsidian is indeed scary sharp. I used to be an arrowhead collector when I was a kid. Still have a few flint points from up in Ohio. But the arrows the Apaches made out of obsidian (before they began using metal they got from the whites) were downright terrifying. Usually smaller, but super sharp, and they usually broke inside the wound if they'd hit anything like bone. Just plain nasty. - DixieBoy

[wecsoger]

Yeah, if it came from OR, I'm guessing this is a sort of 'dirty' version of obsidian, not flint. It has a very fragile and delicate edge, but beyond scary sharp.

[madman4570]

So Cool

[Grizz]

Yup, it's Oregon obsidian. Thanks for the responses. Very interesting topic. How did the early users carry them? Probably not in a neck sheath. I suppose all those details are gone. I imagine they had to be babied. At least it looks like it's easily snapped. I would like to hand down a vid clip to my great grand children of me whacking off a chunk of meat from a spit over a fire. Just because I can.

Life is good. Eternal life is infinitely better.

Have a happy

uh

mmm

[piller]

The reason obsidian gets so sharp is that when it is frectured properly, the resulting edge can be as little as 1 molecule thick, and that is a lot thinner than steel will get. The 1 molecule edge is hard, but brittle and will snap if twisted, but may still leave a sharp edge.

that is a very nice knife, by the way.

[dennie]

Great knife and great gift!
I worked with many knappers when I was in the unions!
dennie

[rat patrol]

When we find obsidian artifacts on sites they are still often sharp even after a 1000+ years.

[Grizz]

When we find obsidian artifacts on sites they are still often sharp even after a 1000+ years.

pretty inert stuff. I wonder if there are any metals that could hold an edge like that.

what kind of sites do you find old obsidian on?

[JHarold]

I would put it in a picture frame, hang it on the wall, shine a light on it.

That is a work of art.

so is your bride, priceless

[Les Staley]

FYI just before laser surgery came on board for eye/retina sculpting, they were finding out that flint/obsidean scalpels were beter than steel for that kind of surgery..

[Grizz]

Thanks for the responses guys

I like the frame idea. Came in a wood case, I can get a glass cover to fit...

good idea

sharp is good

I like sharp