Main Discussion Area > ABO

3 not so hot

(1/2) > >>

Spotted Dog:

I am having trouble thinning. The big gray one. I even tried to cheat with copper a bit and didn't work.
This is beginning to affect my neck and arms bad. Could use some help. :(

le0n:
The help you need is in the form of indirect percussion I believe.

Look into it. It requires a less strength but gives big results in terms of flaking.

If you start now in your early stage of learning, I think you'll progress quickly.

I just started this week. Sort of kicking myself for that too.

Your flaking is coming along nicely though. Nice scarring on that big guy in the middle.

turbo:
I've heard others complain about soreness/body pain while knapping abo. I have recently experienced this myself coming off a long knapping hiatus. I don't remember it before so it could be age too ;)

In short I think we need to listen to our bodies and take breaks, which I don't always follow myself.. Abo may use more strength/dexterity but if it causes pain back off and analyze what may be contributing, ex; 'I kept wacking that platform like a crazed caveman and it didn't release, maybe my platform was too strong?' etc, etc

Spotted Dog:
I have bad nerve damage in my neck and arms. So ..................
I am not going to stop just rethink.

AncientTech:
Not counting the obsidian biface, you should consider employing hammerstone thinning on the chert bifaces.

I do better with hammerstones, when standing up, because my arms can move more freely, with full follow through.  Since your neck and arms hurt, it sounds like you may be straining, and hunched over. 

To use the hammerstone, you need to find one that is not too hard, until you are better with hammerstones.  You could use limestone, or sandstone, hammerstones. 

Hold the biface in a piece of leather with edge exposed.  Find a hump near the edge, flip the biface over, and tap down on the edge, to lightly chip a steep platform in front of the hump.  Use light taps, or use a punch.  Flip the biface again, and use a hard drop swing, that clips the platform, with the hammerstone.  Don't overgrip the biface.  It needs a little bit of play. 

If you do this, you can keep removing high spots, until the biface is relatively thin.  But, you have to practice over and over for days, weeks, and months.  I think that I practiced for six months, before I got a sense of stabling out.  Now I can use the same process, to create coast to coast flakes, or sometimes too much of a flake - hard hammer overshots that destroy the biface.  But, it took months of practice to develop this skill. 

Also, the gray stuff looks really glossy.  If the stone is too fine, or heat treated, the hammerstone process might damage the stone. 

If you practice with the hammerstones long enough, you will discover that it is the same thing over and over again, in most cases.  And, you will be able to vary the hammerstones, while compensating for hardness.  Also, if you practice long enough, you will be able to develop a "groove", so that you can do it almost mechanically, without much strain, or thought. 

If you do not want to stand up all the time, or the bifaces are smaller, you can sit down with left leg propped up, and rest your left arm against your leg, while holding the biface, in the left hand.  Hold your hammerstone in your right hand.  This was a position recorded by ethnographic observers, in North America, on various occasions. 

But, beware, if you really start developing the skill, and you start tearing off large flakes, with the hammerstones, you can also do a great deal of damage to your fingertips, should a large detachment happen to fly off and catch a nearby finger tip.  So, it is important to make sure that a cut piece of leather acts as a barrier to protect the holding hand, from flying flakes.  I have had a few instances where I was sure that I would need stitches...  Fortunately, stone-made cuts seem to heal quickly, when held under pressure, and taped up.   

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page