Main Discussion Area > Flintknapping
Discussion Of Burlington Chert
Ahnlaashock:
I apologize. I titled it the way I did, because all discussion of knapping Burlington is of interest.
I also consider myself fortunate to have nearby life supplies of the material to use, at the cost of going and getting it.
My attempts at points have been few, and invariably, far too thick. I would be embarassed to post them. I have done quite a bit of hammer stone work now, making bifaces out of the rough material, or cleaning flaw. I have very little experience flaking at all. Most of what I have done, is drive flakes, and experiment with methods of flaking. I did get two flakes to run almost to the other edge yesterday, but typically, 1/4 inch is a lot closer to average. I flake and shape, but going one way, eats up the scars of the flakes going the other way, until a stall angle is reached. I fail to be able to thin unless I use percussion so far.
I created a long flaking tool, and have been playing with it, so what I can do with this material has grown. I am currently running experiments and learning capabilities with it.
The question I am working on right now, is the difference between laying the long flaking tool across my lap to drive flakes off, and tucking it under my arm, to push flakes off, using the whole body.
I have considered taking some of my lapidary tools and pulling a Darth Vader on a couple of pieces! The better pieces that have been inside in the dry, would be heating now, but there is still 15 inches of snow on and around my car, and I really don't want the sand I need, enough to go outside and work for over and hour to get the car out of the driveway! Much of that material is too good for learning practice anyway.
Oops! My wife just changed my mind about digging the car out!
caveman2533:
What kind of tools are you interested in Abo tools I presume? Do you have a moose billet? A tine billet will not have the density or mass need to drive flakes off raw Burlington.
Dalton Knapper:
Marty had me using a donut (small donut) sized soft hammerstone the time I almost got a lesson from him and we were working raw Burlington. It was then that my wife wanted to leave the knap in......sigh..........
Ahnlaashock:
No larger antler billet of any kind so far. A piece of whitetail main beam that is curved can be used as a swung billet, but I usually use it for indirect.
I am using hammerstones for reduction, and pretty much everything. I have a 6 inch soft brass billet that I use for some things. Mostly to save on hammerstone wear. I have concentrated on finding, collecting, and reducing the material into usable pieces, spalls, blades, and bifaces. I have not really tried to do much past that stage, and the snow stopped me from even completing that task all the way. I am kind of shocked at the amount of time I have spent just reducing it. I am getting better, and the last few hours, I was using a hammerstone a little bigger than a golf ball.
The long flake tool with the copper tip is very nice. I can do a lot more using it, but I am just learning it. I have been doing enough flaking that my left arm and hands are sore. I worked a small piece of obsidian today, and I had little problem doing what I wanted to with it. After working with the raw, it seemed like nothing to push off even long flakes in the obsidian.
I have the turkey roaster full, and I am 24 hours into a drying cycle. I mentioned my reluctance to heat treat to a friend who is Native American, and she pretty much laughed at the idea. She said that rocks had been being heated for the sweat lodge for thousands of years, and for cooking or heating even longer than that. That many, if not most of the tools were made from such material, and had been for time out of knowing. I will try seriously flaking it again when that batch is done. I put in a bunch of practice grade material in to learn on.
I would prefer to be using all ABO tools, preferably all tools readily available in the area, but for right now, I will be happy with just getting the job done.
Ahnlaashock:
I was discussing heat treating stone in the turkey roaster, and my wife popped off with, there is a kiln on Craigslist for 120 bucks. Well, I now own a paragon kiln and 18 ceramics molds. You guys are a bad influence, and my wife even helped!
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