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workable stone

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JackCrafty:
PaulC, what are you normally working with? If you've worked mostly glass, the Texas rock will seem really tough.

Texas chert that doesn't heat well is pretty rare. It can sometimes be a lot like high grade rhyolite (which doesn't respond to heat). If it's Edwards plateau chert, it should be good stuff. There might be something wrong with the thermostats in your oven(s). You might try installing a thermometer to check the actual temperature during the process.

Throwing some of the stone directly into a fire is not a bad idea. If it pops, then it's good quality and you just need to find the right temperature using a good oven, roaster, or kiln. If nothing much happens to the stone after the fire dies down, then the rock you have is poor quality.

JackCrafty:
When I heat treat in a "primitive" way, I don't bury the stone. I arrange the flakes and spalls around a bed of coals and heat treat in the the open.

JEB:
Will have to agree to disagree Patrick on tossing rock in a fire. Cooking flakes and spalls the way you do is one thing but tossing rocks into an open flame can be very dangerous. I have had them blow up on me and my family when making a fire ring out of rocks that unknown to me were wet inside. And when they blew up chunks of rock flew everywhere. Thankfully no one was injured. 

JackCrafty:
Flakes of chert or flint do not explode. They pop. You can usually recover all the pieces because they do not travel. I'm not disagreeing with you JEB, just FYI.

Moisture content of the stone is important. For those who don't know, wet stone and fire do not mix.

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