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knapping problems

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armymedic.2:
so i have begun to attempt knapping and besides the step fractures and breaking stone in half by accidebnt i am doing allright.   :-\  The main thing i don't understand, is are there other ways to thin the peice besides chipping from the edge.  what happens is i will recieve or end up with a shape close to what i want, but one side will be very thick, and then when i try to thin it it will either not flake for me at all, so im left with a lopsided peice, or it will thin but at the cost of losing much of that side in thinning.  can i strike in the middle of the head to thin out instead of in?  all i have now is a large antler billet and pressure flaker, but i have two smaller sized copper boppers on their way so i am hoping that this helps.  i am using obsidian and novaculite.  I made two heads from large flakes of obsidian, but have not yet been able to make a peice from a large stone.  any advice on thinning without losing the edge would be apppreciated, unless it is a fools errand.

episaacs:
When  your preform is still large enough, you can thin quite a bit from the ends (assuming you have enough to sacrifice some length).  Just be careful to protect the other end from endsnap.  If you haven't already done so, go to paleoplanet and look at edbo's posts that link to his you tube videos.  You will be impressed.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=EDBO23

Hillbilly:
There are a bunch of great videos on youtube that will help. Losing width while thinning is inevitible, a palm-sized spall will often yield a fairly small point if it's got some thickness to remove (most do). You have to have the right platform angles and strike at the correct angle to take good thinning flakes without losing a lot of size. If your flakes aren't going past the center of the point, you're losing width faster than you're losing thickness. Practice, practice, practice. Watch the youtube videos. Destroy a few tons of rock and it will start falling into place. If you can make it to a knap-in and watch people knapping in person, it will help a lot, too.

armymedic.2:
thanks folks, i will watch the u tubes, and i have ordered much more rock to destroy.  i guess i will continue to apprentice  ??? ;D. 

MattE:
The way I have found to thin heads is to use the thin part of a spall,(preform) for the back of the head. When I use the thickest part for the point end it is easy to thin as it will be the narrowest part and running a flake completely across is easy.

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