Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Flintknapping => Topic started by: Michael C. on December 24, 2009, 11:32:17 am
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I am going to venture into knapping and wondered what sort of rock is a good rock to start with and then to proceed with once I get better?
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well i would have to say heat treated novaculite,obsidian,dacite and glass any one of them i think would be great for a beginner once you get to were you feel you need something diffrent i would say Texas flint/chert of coarse there is so many to choose from when you get to that point
good luck and welcome to the addiction
David
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Free Rock ;D
You can try toilet tanks, 1/4" plate glass, bottle bottoms etc all work and is cheap(free)
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Dana's right. Start with as cheap of material as you can find. If after you work on it for a while, you still have the bug...move on to something else cheap ;D
The point is...you'll probably ruin a lot of stuff at first (we all do). No need to destroy good rock right off the bat. You'll wish you had it later.
On the other hand, it's somewhat easier to succeed in making a decent point if you have decent material to work with.
Start learning to pressure flake with glass. If you want to practice percussion, go with TV screens or toilet tanks. ;)
If you must use flint, novaculite is a good starting point.
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Some thing you can get a lot of and not break the bank in the process. It really doesn't matter what it is, as long as 1. it's easy to get, 2. it is all the same, 3. it is cheap. The more you knap the better you will get. If you switch from glass to flint to alibates to chert, you will break a lot because each one works slightly different. Slightly more or less force is needed. A hit that will snap an obsidion blade will hinge badly on flint and won't do much at all to rhyolite. Bill
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I have some wine bottle bottoms without the weird hump in the bottom and I'm sure I can find/make some beer or whisky bottle bottoms here somewhere :) I think I can head next door to Arkansas and find some Novaculite but I don't know exactly what I am looking for. I found some white rock chunks that look like flint and there are some boulders in that area by the river that chip like flint when you whack them with a big rock, is there some sort of quality scale to look for.
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Mike, If you whack them and a flake comes off, you can make a point of some kind. And if it flakes, keep beating on it, it's good practice. You wouldn't believe all the lessons most of us learned on some of the crappiest material we could find when we were Newbies.
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You can usually find Dacite cheap. I like it because it is sturdier than obsidian but not too tough. Like everyone says cheap is better. You will reduce a lot of stuff to rubble before you get some blades.
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The white is probably Keokuk. Very good stuff. The rivers have Boone chert. West of of you ,in Kay County, is Kay county chert. South and southeast of you is novaculite. I would follow DanaM's advice and stick with glass for a while. Just beginning, you will turn even the best knapping material into useless gravel. Save the better stuff until you have acquired some knapping skills.