Main Discussion Area > Flintknapping
Deerhunter's flintknapping thread
Russ:
I watched some videos and what im understanding is you do two short flakes to create a ridge and then you uae the ridge to swnd a long flake, am i right?
Parnell:
So, your flakes won't travel all the way across, beautifully, until you remove those ridges. The energy wave can't travel through the ridgeline. Your strikes are moving directly into the ridge, which is why it stops there and you are left with a step. Bear with me...picture yourself going hiking and imagine as if the piece of stone's surface were the ridgelines you were going hiking up. You wouldn't want to walk up the steepest incline. You would want to walk along the gradual rise of the topography. Does that make sense? ???
Look at your piece of stone starting out primarily from the centerline, first. That is, look at it from a thickness perspective instead of the side profile. Considering both sides, you want to remove the thickest portions first, preparing a platform on the opposite side of what you intend to remove. This is where "centerline" comes to play. Take a sharpie pen and actually draw the centerline around the circumference of the stone. Everything to the right must go right. Everything to the left must go left. You are creating platforms to strike so that you are climbing the ridgeline in the direction of the gradual rise of the topography.
Considering your photo, here is my 2 cents:
Remove the Red 1 portion first in the opposite direction of the showing face with respect to centerline. This must be done to have a clean platform to strike in the direction of 2 and 3 respectively to thin the piece.
Abrade, abrade, abrade. Think about abrading with a great deal of pressure vs. very lightly and what difference that makes.
How tightly you hold the spall with your left hand matters as much as the proper placement of your strike with your right hand. Squeezing it too tightly will dampen the energy shock wave travelling through the stone.
When using percussion...think about "follow through", like with other sports. Follow through your strike.
Hope this helps.
Parnell
Russ:
i understand it all except the center line. could you explain it a bit more? So i thought i got what a percussion platform but i don't know after watching some videos. so you can make one kinda like a nipple but a bit more flat and isolate it. I know there's another one but i didn't understand it a lot. i'm worried to hit it with a bopper as i don't want it to snap but, well, its just a rock. i also don't know how to attack the #3 flake. thank you for the picture! it really helps!
oh yeah, i understand the hiking analogy. you need more energy to go up the ridge so if you do a regular flake with not enough energy it will terminate while traveling through or right after and putting too much energy could cause it to snap. so you have to get rid of it to send a good flake.
Parnell:
I’ll try to put something together for you and post back this evening.
Parnell:
This book is your best bet at getting a clear understanding. Try to pick it up.
Pictures to explain centerline. The middle of the thickness...I’m working on a sketch to help you.
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