Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Flintknapping => Topic started by: banoch on October 12, 2009, 11:53:33 pm
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If you were going to make a knife blade for a knife that you actually were going to use is there one type of stone that stands head and shoulders above all others. Sharpest, strongest, most durable. What is the best way to join it to the handle? I appreciate your help. banoch
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personaly i like what ever i can get my hands on,as i live in an area that doesnt have much for knappible material
obsidion gets harper than stone,but stone is more durable than obsidion,bot hhave pros and cons
as far as hafting to a handle
do you want to keep it primitive or dont realy care?
if your going for primitive,then pine pitch and sinew
or if ya dont care,then two part epoxy works great
i have done them both ways,the yeach have pros and cons
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My vote is Ryolite!!
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I'd say rhyolite also. Very tough stone and can be made very sharp.
A stone knife is made for cutting or sticking and NOT for prying. No knife is made for prying but you can get away with a little with a metal blade...NOT WITH STONE!
An obsidian blade is the sharpest but it is brittle so not as durable. The design of the blade will matter also.
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Some of that Pederanales stuff can be purty darn tough, but have to agree with the Rhyolite thing - I just don't have it around here. I slot my handle to accept the stone, wrap it in sinew, then cover with tbIII to waterproof.
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If you want a sharp, durable knife and want to punish yourself, try raw Coral.
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What about chert or flint? Does anyone have any ryolite big enough for an 8"blade they are willing to part with? Thanks for the suggestions. If made thicker would obsidian be a GOOD choice?
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I'd say rhyolite too, but most flints and cherts make good uns too.
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A lot of stone makes good knives, especially raw stuff, but my top three choices for a user would be rhyolite, rhyolite, and rhyolite.
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Come on now, I'm an ex N.C boy myself, i know all about Riolite and yes its very durable, but if you have not knapped it before your in for a rude awakening its tough stone and tough to knap. But Riolite like most other lithic meterail can be found in different grades and some riolite is more like a mid-grade chert and some is like granite.. There is nothing wrong with a flint or chert blade they can be just as sharp and functional.
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I like the Pedernales, it can be tough. But I'll vote on the Rhyolite side for durability and sharpness. Once you get a good edge on Rhyolite, it's gonna be there a while.
Like any rock, quality varies. Some is primo, while some is awful.
Jim
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for obsidian, I'd go for one of the tougher obsidian varities such as Glass Buttes Dacite (a.k.a. "g'dacite). It is not as breakable as regular obsidian, not by a long shot! In fact it's so danged hard to work, I usually don't mess with it unless i'm making something I am going to use. Now, there are a number of different "dacites" out there- most are an opaque grey obsidian. Some, like "riley Dacite" (this is all from oregon) are alot like regular obsidian (i.e. glass-like). G'dacite is much different- it's also opaque grey, with a dull luster (or lack of luster). This would not have to be thicker than a flint blade. I may have a chunk I'd trade for some of your local stone....
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I'm a real fan of Dacite. Easy to work, sharp as obsidian, and tough.
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I've only worked a couple pieces of it, but I think Knife River flint would be a heck of a choice for a functional knife blade.
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Do like the native people did, go with what you have, or trade for better stuff. ;) You won't find anything sharper than obsidian, but you have to treat it like glass. Uh......because it essentially is. Make it a little thicker, and shorter. Any stone blade is going to be somewhat fragile, compared to a steel one. Even Rhyolite. Though it is tough stuff as every one here seems to assert, it is not steel. Like they said, stone knives were not for throwing, stabbing, (except in emergencies) or prying with. It was a cutting instrument. You have a lot of material choices. Experiment with different types of stone, and see which one suits your particular needs, and holds up to your type of usage. ;) I wouldn't know. I never made a knife. I am ecstatic when I make an arrow head, that is not a bird point, or granules for the debbage pile. ;D
Wayne
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The problem is that being new to all of this I have absolutly nothing of interest to trade except for a little $.
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I think stone knifes were carried for self defense as a last resort.. it would be much more practical to use blades and flacks for cutting and carving.. sure you can gut a deer with a well made stone knife.. but its much easier to do it with a flack off a blade core. just my 2 cents.
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a flake is as sharp as it ever will get to retouch it just dulls it ,or so it sayes in waldorfs book.
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ive got scars on two of my fingerprint pads from flakes
damn near cut both of them right of the finger
happened in less than a blink of an eye too
they cut soo clean ya can bleed for two days before it quits,then ya bump it and it starts all over again with the bleeding
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Brian Melton knocked off a flake of that Florida Chert, Hillbilly once called concrete. And then commenced to skinning a boar hog with no trouble at all. Anybody that has experiance skinning a wild hog knows how you have to keep resharpening your knife.
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Pedernales or flint. I agree with Leapingbear, they carried a stone knife in case they needed to cut something. If they expected to cut something, they carried flakes or spalls or something they could get flakes from. Bill
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OK, I found some rhyolite but the guy says that it is "mid grade" What does this mean other than it is not high or low grade? He is asking $2 lb.
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Banoch, where is the rhyolite from? In NC, it ranges from a very good grade comparable in knappability to raw chert to a grainy, granite-like rock that's almost unknappable. The best stuff is green or gray.