Main Discussion Area > Flintknapping

New to knapping, help woth rock ID?

<< < (3/3)

Ippus:
They're not kidding about doing a little homework before you open one up.
My grandpa was a tv repairman, and he used to swear he knew guys who got killed messing around inside a tv without grounding out the capacitor first.
Also, there's the risk of implosion if you crack the vacuum wrong.
And not as much these days, but it's still possible to get some heavy metals and such in you from the phosphor coating... Want to wear a dust mask and gloves and wash that off before you start knapping.

StumblyRhino:
Thanks for the heads-up. I've discharged and vented them before, just never dawned on me that there was all that glass for knapping practice.  You could load the truck full of free CRT TVs off Craigslist in an afternoon.  They're everywhere.  Not that I'm going to get that many. :D

Dakota Kid:
 The glass is actually crystal (i.e. leaded), so estimating quantity through weight might be a little misleading when compared to normal glass. I still knap TV glass from time to time. I almost always snap my larger pieces in half. The impact wave travels through the stuff with practically zero resistance. I have better luck using antler for percussion flaking, weighted copper seems to do more damage. Good luck. The stuff is almost too fragile, for me anyway. It will definitely teach you to hit the right spot or suffer the consequences.

Keep your eyes open for old toilets. Some of them knap pretty well, some are way to grainy. Once I found what I suspect was a chunk of old counter top that was like white glass. The stuff was amazing. I have seen anything like it since. Actually some coffee mugs are made of a similar material, but those are a far cry from 3/4" thick chunks of counter.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page

Go to full version