Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Flintknapping => Topic started by: sailordad on February 09, 2009, 09:10:49 pm
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well i gave this knapping thing a try.
first attempt was a week ago,and then again this past wekend.
i started by whacking this big rock with a piece of hickory that was left over from a stave.
no big spalls but some decent flakes so i thought i would try a few points.
after a week this is what i ended up with,not sure what kind of rock bot one is from a piece of obsidion
and i think i am doing something right,cause i end up bleeding very time i try making points.
the one second from the right i think is the best one,sharp as hell too.
they are from left to right first to last.
(http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/6346/1000147ms3.jpg)
thanks for looking
peace,
tim
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Remember to grind your edges well, raise your pressure platforms toward the face you are removing flakes from, press In as well as down. Your flakes will get longer. Keep gettin' it, man!
PD
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Looks like you're starting to figure it out. If you're bleeding you've got to be doing something right. ;D Like Pete said, push in more and down less with the flaker. Takes awhile to figure out the ratio of in/down to get good flakes.
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Keep at it Tim it gets easier, ya still bleed but it does start making sense :)
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Keep at it. The bleeding is just a sign of commitment, and the soon the lithic gods will smile on you. I think they are all out laughing at me...... ;D
Wayne
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I made a good pile of em that looked just like that a few years ago Tim. Endeavor to persevere and you'll figure it out a little at a time. And yep, gotta get them platforms toward the edge your removing flakes from. Get the angle and pressure right then pop, they'll travel further :).
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Ha ! chief Dan was the man. Anywho....Your stuff is looking like the stuff we all turned out when we first started.Keep at it and you'll be there soon.Then you'll be binding them on shafts and terrorizing the critters. Frank
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thanks everyone.
i am definitely committed/addicted. i find myself spending more time trying to knapp,than i spend
trying to make bows now.
dont mind bleedng,just wish i knew when i cut myself so that i could take care of it right away.but my hands are so callosed from wrenching.
i usually only find i cut myself after everything is blood covered.
frank: all the points i make will have to be for show. minnesotas hunting laws are very clear on that. it says broadheads MUST have atleast 2 sharp metal
cutting edges.oh well i will still keep at it.
thanks again peace,
tim
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Thats a Good start, Glad your gettin in that rock I sent ya. :)
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I like your spirit Tim! You keep improvin then come down here to Illinois. I've already proved to myself that our deer bleed fine with stone points!
d:^)
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Tim
Way to get after it. Good start. I have a pile of points just like that from not to long ago. Pay attention to the tips these guys are giving you. They have helped me out a bunch.
TJ
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thanks everyone. ;D
gotta tell ya . i really like this knapping thing.matter of fact i went to my first knapp in here yesterday. quite an interesting experience
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Sailordad, I have some news for you. It doesn't go away. Once infected with the knap virus, you are a knapper, be it a beginner, middle skill level, highly skilled, or master skill level. I can't walk in my garage, without going over to the rocks, and messing with some of them, and forgetting what the heck I went out there for in the first place. It is interesting at how sharp that stuff can be. Like you, I only find out when I have cut myself, when, I notice that the rock is sticky, and my hands are also, and then, I notice the color. Oooops. Just this morning, I was messing with some rock, I got at the Dade City knap in, and then picked up an old piece I had been working on, and started to sharpen the edges, and checked to see how sharp they were, and then turned the piece over, and then noticed the skin on the tip of my left index finger hanging down......ok, it's sharp enough. Keep at it, and definitely go to knap-ins, and try to find someone else near you that is infected, or deranged also. Whenever you come across a rock, you will just "Have" to smack it to see what is in side......You will not be able to drive well any more, because you will be looking at rock on the side of the road, and else where, instead of where you are going. Sort of like looking at trees, and wondering how many bows are in them......so, welcome to the bin :P ;D
Wayne
Stick
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Wayne, when are you gonna post those nice points you made I saw Saturday?
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Considering the fact that you have six points in the picture and not just one, I'd say the bug has bit. Feed it a good dose of rock with the appropriate blood sacrifice and and you will get better. Looks like you have a good start.
Mike
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Thanks Eddie, I still can't figure out how to post pictures yet. I will take some pictures of them, and maybe post them. I appreciate the compliment. Every now and then I get one to look some what decent. I still want to get them thin, like Claude, and Bone pile. Yours are not exactly shabby either. You gonna look for some stone in Alberta? If you find some it wold probably be cheaper to mail it home, rather than pay your first male child to the *&^%%!! airlines, to carry it back.! I will take some pictures, and when you get back, I will let you post them, and I can see first hand how to post them. I have to see it done, and then do it. ;)
Wayne
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SailorDad, You're doing great! Just don't waste your lithic resources at this stage. You'll be kicking yourself in the rear in a few months. This is the time you should be using beer bottle bottoms and other man made glass which is free or very inexpensive.
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xin: only problem is i dont drink beed,only wine and thats not very often.
however i doo keep an eye out for free glass stuff,like old pyrex cook ware etc.,most people i know who drink still
use returnable bottles,so thats pretty much out.when they do drink from others that are non returnable its cans :(
and i dont know anyone who can knapp aluminum. lol
i did talk with a guy at the knapp in that said he would be willing to mail rock to me,i am also going to ask a few farmers that i know
if i can dig thru their rock piles after picking rock in the spring,the ones that let me hunt i will volunteer to help pick rock in their fields.
i also plan on just looking for rock along the missippi river banks and along lake shores etc once we thaw out in the spring.
thanks to everyone else for the input
and yup the bug bit me and i think it left a mark or two also. ;D
peace,
tim
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Sailordad, Check out your local tv repair shop for old burned out picture tubes. Also, you might try a glass shop and see if they have some broken scraps they will give you or sell very cheaply. Both of these options will be a lot less costly than buying chert which at this point will mostly be turned to rubble. Unless you live in a chert rich environment like central Tx you will spend all of your time searching for chert and not learning to knap. What chert you have now can be saved for when you can knap a little better.