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pressure flaker?

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jlatkinson:
Does the point on a homemade pressure flacker have to be cppper? I see copper points all the time and wanted to see if i could use a nail or something for the first time.

Dalton Knapper:
Ishi used a mild-soft iron pressure flaker, but he had a lifetime of experience and was knapping glass and obsidian. You would likely get short flakes on whatever you knap with iron. Considering how easy and cheap copper is, I have to wonder why you would consider something other than copper or antler? I started with a nail wrapped in masking tape, but it was less than rewarding result wise. Go to a hardware store and splurge on a foot of copper grounding wire for the 2 to 3 bucks it will cost you or do worse than you could obviously do with the right material. Get some antler of copper and save yourself the misery of bad results.

Stringman:
DK has some really good advise. The answer to your question is yes you can use many different metals for the tip of you flaker. Copper happens to be the cheapest (most readily available) and gives the best results for most people. When it comes to notching, some of the more experienced among us like to use steel nails - horse shoe or otherwise - because it doesn't deform as badly. 

Ahnlaashock:
A cheap dowel, cut in half, with a small pilot hole, and you can drive a piece of the wire mentioned like a nail, right into the end.  Pull and replace until you can make better.  I am still using the same system myself, for my long tools anyway. 

seminolewind:
Take the ground wire from your local hardware store and put one end in a vice and the other in the chuck of a drill spin it till it breaks. This will change the temper of the wire so it doesn't bend. Cut it in sections and use those. Nails are good for notching but won't grab the stone as well as copper which will make it hard for a new knapper. Deer antler tines sharpened up work well too.

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