Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Flintknapping => Topic started by: Muskyman on December 01, 2023, 12:50:15 am
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Good news. I finally had a piece that was really looking great. It was a large flake that I picked up from one of the pieces I had destroyed. I watched a jack krafty video about beginners using flakes to start with. I took to it with my flaker and before long I had a nice looking point made.
Bad news. I decided that it needed to be a little thinner on one side and of course I broke it in half.
I should have probably just notched it and been happy with that but it does make me feel a little hopeful. Pretty sure it was lack of support and hitting it to hard with my indirect tool that broke it..
Also I’m pretty much out of rock. I’m thinking I’ll get some larger flakes on my next order since thinning seems to allude me. I’m hoping my daughter out in Austin can find me some Georgetown and ship it to me.
I didn’t get a chance to take a picture before I broke it.
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Sounds like your progress is perfectly on schedule!
I found I could get points out of my early debitage after awhile.
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I have plenty of nice, thick glass you could play with if you send me a pm with address. I will never use it all. It has its own challenges and some folks say you learn habits that won't work with actual stone...but it'll keep you learning. Paul
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Sounds like the normal progression of a good knapper. I think we all look at the things that are wrong with our points. That’s what we as knappers see. We always want to just get that step out, or get this side a little thinner. I think that’s how we get better.
You need to find a balance. Learn your limits yet keep pushing them. The ones you save now will probably look pretty crude to you in a couple years if you keep pushing. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t save a few or even set them aside for now.
I still break lots of them. They are just a lot nicer when I break them now than they were seven years ago.
Bjrogg.
PS glass is a good option. It’s not like working raw stone, but if your budget doesn’t allow good rock it is a good alternative. It’s just like obsidian.
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Thanks for the offers and encouragement guys. I’m keeping my failed pieces and have thought about taking some and cutting the turtle backs down with a diamond blade saw and starting over on them.. I’m thinking I need to loose my bull in a china shop mentality. I think that will help me some. I’m finding that if a flake won’t release just bashing it over and over and harder and harder doesn’t seem to be the answer (lol) here’s a picture or two of my broken point and some other attempts.
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Seem to be having an issue with posting pictures all of a sudden.
Try again later.
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Picture
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Another
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Last picture. I was trying to thin little blob off the top right when I broke it.
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Sounds like all of us, I just broke one yesterday and I can safely say it wasn't the rocks fault. Looks like you were a little high on the edge, you can cheat around that by tipping the piece down, helps when cutting through mass too. You'd be surprised at how the flake will travel after it gets through
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Probably right Allyn. I have had a tendency to keep hitting harder and harder when the piece doesn’t do what I want. Not a smart thing when knapping I’m finding out. I went back out to my shop and beat around on a few pieces that were laying around. I was trying to focus on my support and hand placement to see how it would react to different ways I was holding it. I’ve found a few videos where they talk about that and I’m going to try and pay attention more to how peopled are supporting the piece they are working on. I’m also thinking about getting some rock other than just Georgetown and maybe try some other stuff. Maybe some obsidian and some Keokuk and some more of the Georgetown too. Shot my daughter another text about trying to find some flint, she’s only about 15-20 minutes from Georgetown TX. Maybe I can get her knapping then I’d be in business.
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Freezecracked On YouTube has great videos and talks about support a lot
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Thanks Allyn, I’ll check him out.
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Good: I think I’m kinda figuring some things out here, not sure of that but I’m thinking maybe..
Bad: I’m officially out of my Georgetown except for some pieces that are pretty much done for.
I might be able to resurrect a few but most are probably too small to do anything with. I’ve started practicing notching and pressure flaking on stuff from the debitage pile.
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I was thinking about this point MM and considering where centerline is and the platform placement.
If the flake had line 2 wanting to be the acting center while you are working to bring it to 1? Also, if perhaps you were applying the pressure directly into the ridge on the underside or right side in this picture of that point. I’ve found better results peeling flakes angular into ridges instead of attacking straight in.
In other words, if pressure was applied “above or left” of line two directly inwards resulting the break.
Maybe others will give thoughts. Like to hear what you think.
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I’m a little lost when it comes to putting pressure on the rock I’m working on, well a lot lost really. I’m hoping to get some more rock soon. Obsidian and Georgetown probably. I’ll have to experiment with pressure when I get some more. Been trying to find a way to fix some of my turtles I’ve made. Also just trying to see what results I can get from the indirect percussion and building platforms. Just whacking around on the junk I made out of the first rock I got. Just been playing with what I have and trying to learn what I can from what I have.
Got to admit it’s much tougher than I thought it would be. I’ll get there. I’ve had some really great offers from people on here who are willing to help me out. That’s what I love about this site, the people on here and their willingness to share.
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Honestly it's hard to tell in the pictures. I was wondering if maybe it was a finger placement thing, such as were you pushing down on top of the piece to hold it still or were your fingers on the back edge.
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That’s good MM. I think if I had to design a flint knapping course I’d have people learn pressure first. Load pressure in and then use your thighs as the vice to peel down.
You’ll get it. Hope you can find a way to sit down with someone in person, that made a big difference for me. Then just time and lots of broken rock!
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I have some obsidian coming. Also going to get a little more Georgetown soon. Going to try and work on the pressure thing some to see how things react to how I’m holding the piece. Been watching freeze cracked videos and he does explain more about how he’s holding the piece and where he’s putting pressure. Hopefully this will help some as I could use win or at least some light at the end of the tunnel. I’ll keep going till I can get a point of some kind. Not discouraged at all, looking forward to trying again.
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Succeeding in flintknapping is a great feeling. You'll find your goals expanding as you progress and expect more from yourself as you continue to improve
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I was thinking about this point MM and considering where centerline is and the platform placement.
If the flake had line 2 wanting to be the acting center while you are working to bring it to 1? Also, if perhaps you were applying the pressure directly into the ridge on the underside or right side in this picture of that point. I’ve found better results peeling flakes angular into ridges instead of attacking straight in.
In other words, if pressure was applied “above or left” of line two directly inwards resulting the break.
Maybe others will give thoughts. Like to hear what you think.
Parnell
I was looking at this thread again and being slow on the uptake, just did realize that the picture in your post was of the arrowhead that I had broken. Not really sure which line was my center line to be honest. That was a flake I found in my debitage and I was trying to get a point out of it. No clue what happened other than what was the closest I’ve been to a point turned into two piece's
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Gotcha. Be fun to see your next efforts.
Consider the idea of trimming your pieces to get a working uniform centerline early. If flaking right of center the platform should be prepped on that right side and vice versa, close to center. Backtrim if needed…that is consider trimming directly down or perpendicular from the side you wish to remove, flip the piece, then abrade and pop the flake.
It’s always so tricky to explain in words…hope this kinda helps!
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I’m thinking of posting more pictures when I get started back to working my new stuff. I’ve been watching videos like crazy here to the point my wife is making fun of me. It’s really hard to see what they are seeing because they work so fast. Even when they are trying to explain what they are doing it’s hard to see. I’m sure a little one on one would benefit me greatly. That’s probably not going to happen most likely so I’ll just keep going and see how I progress. I’ve started trying to pay more attention to how people are holding the piece they’re working on lately. Step fractures are probably my biggest issue. I’m thinking not driving my flakes across the piece is next after that. That’s probably why I keep making my aquarium turtles. I think that is mostly from not having a good platform to hit. I’ll make it eventually.
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Flintknappingtips on YouTube has a couple videos where he goes slow and talks about platforms and how he sets them up
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I’ll check it out, thanks Allyn
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Running flakes across happens more effectively when the preform becomes uniform in cross section, I’ve found. You’ll get it.
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My wife and I were talking and I was telling her that the guys that I watch in the knapping videos go to fast and I can’t really see exactly what they are doing. She asked me if I had the videos slowed down and I just looked at her and said no, can you do that? She laughed till I felt even dumber than I already did to start with. She just said yup, let me see your iPad and I’ll show you how. Needless to say I’m not what you might call tech savvy, been a tradesman my entire career. I built stuff, and I’m good at it, but don’t hand me a iPhone or iPad and expect much. Anyway my point is that this little bit of info helped me a ton. Showed me more about what I was doing wrong in just a little while then I realized it would. Once I get going again I think it’s going to help.