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Fluting

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gene roberts:
Hello my fellow flint knappers,What exactly does fluting mean??

Ryan_Gill_HuntPrimitive:
fluting is running a flake on each side of the point, from the base up towards the tip. some flutes go only and inch or so and others i have seen go almost to the tip. its to thin the base of the point or blade so its easier to haft to a shaft or handle.  its not really needed unless your point is extra thick at the base or your shaft is thin.....or if you like the way it looks.     but!, it is also a recipe for disaster. you can have a point completely finish and then try to knock a flute and the shock wave of the strike can snap it is half.  some people sink the point in mud or clay. some depress it against their leg...me personally, i try to avoid it. i have lost many nice points b\c i was trying to flute. - Ryan

Knocker:
Hello Gene,

I am sure some of the experts will chime in, but I believe that the flute is the long flake that runs both sides of a spear point from tip to base.  It creates a channel for the spear shaft to set into and gives a more secure method of attachment when lashed up with sinew or the like.

Keith

Hillbilly:
Fluting means taking a long flake off each side of the point to thin the base, usually done when the point is nearly finished. Fluting is a characteristic of American Paleo point types, such as Clovis, Folsom, Cumberland, etc. They were the guys hunting mammoths and all the big extinct megafuana at the end of the last Ice Age. Fluting is difficult to pull off, it involves specialized platform preparation and the right point cross-section. Here's a fluted Clovis point (on the left) made from some of Justin's obsidian:

david w.:
fluting is a good way to break your point and/or make yourself cry >:D i have never tried it and i am no where near that skill level yet but i think a fluted points is a beautiful work of art

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