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Author Topic: my first knapp in. NOW WITH PICS  (Read 7828 times)

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Offline sailordad

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my first knapp in. NOW WITH PICS
« on: February 22, 2009, 10:30:52 am »
   well yesterday the wife and i spent about 4 hrs at our first knapp in.
the one we went to was only third annual in Milaca minnesota.one guy there told me its the smallest knapp in in the country.
he also said next year they will need a larger area to hold the 4th annual.
there werent a lot of people there.
there were about (i am guessing at this )6 guys that were very very good at knapping, and about 8 vendors.there were also maybe
20-30 other participants and lookie loo's. i sat and watched a gentelman make a clovis from a piece of orange/black obsidion,very impressive work
this guy does.he makes it look so easy,doesnt seem like he really pays attention to what hes doing,talks and looks around as hes doing it.then the most impressive thing he did was make nearly perfect flutes on both sides. he did this free hand,no jigs or presses like i have seen in on line videos.WOW :o was that cool has hell to watch.
several of the other guys there were telling me how this guy was supposed to be one of the best knappers around.

ther was another guy there that had several Danish daggers on display that he made. he said that has made over 400 of these,very impressive work when seen up close.

i sat down with another gentelman and he showed me how to get better flakes,longer flakes and more controlled flakes.
all the ones that i talked to there,the experienced ones,said since i am just a newbie that i shouldnt really worry to much at this stage about learning how to
get spalls and such from a larger rocks.they said stick to pressure flaking smaller pieces first and the rest will just kind of fall in place after awhile.

i watched some folks with less experience than the expersts but more than me,make some cool points.even watched afew of them snap them in the middle lol
like they said "oh hell it happens".
i showed a few of my better first attempts at points and the experienced guys said they looked great for someone who has only been doing it for a couple of weeks,
and they also said that their first points werent nearly that good.that made me feel good ;D

i did buy some slabs of obsidion while i was there and some smaller chunks of some burlington chert (well thats what the seller said it was).
the cherts was out of a bucket he had marked as $1 a lb,so i got ten pounds,nothing fancy just some stuff to practice on,who knows i may even be able to make a few
things from it.
the slabbed obsidion that i bought,i had to have someone show me how to get rid of the square edges.so i am going to try and make a knife or two from them.
as i was leaving i found a display with some "Brazilian Agate",very pretty eye candy,so i bought one 3" piece that is preformed to be an arrow head.that will get put away untill i feel i am good enough to make it with out destroy it first lol.

well thats all for now,i will post pics of the people etc when my laptop is up and running again.

                                                                                       peace,
                                                                                              tim

well finally got the laptop up and running so heres some pics now,maybe someone can id the guy making the clovis.his name escape me. jim ??????











well enough pics for now,i have more if ya want to see em ;D

« Last Edit: February 24, 2009, 08:36:17 pm by sailordad »
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i always wanted a harley,untill it became the "thing to ride"
i ride because i love to,not to be part of the crowd

Offline DanaM

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Re: my first knapp in.
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2009, 12:01:41 pm »
Sounds like a fun and educational time Tim.

Is that brazilian agate heat treated? I bought a slab at the fair last year and couldn't run a flake on it at all.
Think it needs cooking ???
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"Prosperity is a way of living and thinking, and not just money or things. Poverty is a way of living and thinking, and not just a lack of money or things."

Manistique, MI

Offline sailordad

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Re: my first knapp in.
« Reply #2 on: February 22, 2009, 12:36:37 pm »
ya the guy that i was talking to said it was and would work like obsidion.
like i said i aint touching it for quit some time,it was kinda spendy
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i always wanted a harley,untill it became the "thing to ride"
i ride because i love to,not to be part of the crowd

Offline DanaM

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Re: my first knapp in.
« Reply #3 on: February 22, 2009, 12:54:15 pm »
Forgot to ask about the frozen cow pie knapping :D How did that go?
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"Prosperity is a way of living and thinking, and not just money or things. Poverty is a way of living and thinking, and not just a lack of money or things."

Manistique, MI

Offline sailordad

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Re: my first knapp in.
« Reply #4 on: February 22, 2009, 01:29:00 pm »
i did ask about that ;D

found out that it is a joke.
i guess a few years back at a gathering in mo,i think the guy said,one guy mentioned doing a knapp in mn and the other guy siad you aint got any thing
but frozen cow patties to knap.so then the next year the first guy made a mold and froze some dung and took it with him and showed it to the second guy.

not real sure i was too bust looking at all the pretty rock while he talked.
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i always wanted a harley,untill it became the "thing to ride"
i ride because i love to,not to be part of the crowd

Offline stickbender

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Re: my first knapp in.
« Reply #5 on: February 22, 2009, 04:00:26 pm »

     Sailordad, Claude Van Oder, is like the guy you were talking about.  He will be yakking away, and looking at you, and around, and percussion flaking, and all of a sudden you look at what he has been hitting, and there is a beautiful, blade, or point, nice and thin, and then, he touches it up with some pressure flaking, and then goes on to another.  It is very impressive, and intimidating to watch someone of that skill level, and then you try it your self.  But they all started out where you and I started.  Smacking and pushing rock.  I saw Claude break one, and without skipping a beat, he reached down, and picked up another piece of rock, and started again, and within a couple of minutes, he was right back to where he was with the other one.  He is something else to watch.  Glad you got to see that, and it is good that there were not too many people there, because you can see more and ask more, and get more one on one attention to your questions, and problems.  So do you feel you have taken a larger step now in your skill, and knowledge level after going to the knap in, and watching and talking to those, who are advanced in their skill levels?

                                                                              Wayne
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Offline sailordad

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Re: my first knapp in.
« Reply #6 on: February 22, 2009, 06:30:19 pm »
wayne i dont think thats who it was.
i think this guys name was Jim ,for the life of me i cant remeber his last name.
once i get the power cord for my laptop i will post pics,dont have a card reader for this box.
then maybe someone can remeber his last name.

yes i do feel like i learned a lot from those guys.
also found out about one in june and another in august here in mn,we plan on going to those also.
hopefully by this time next year i might have a clue. lol
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i always wanted a harley,untill it became the "thing to ride"
i ride because i love to,not to be part of the crowd

Offline stickbender

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Re: my first knapp in.
« Reply #7 on: February 22, 2009, 11:57:34 pm »

     Sailordad, I wasn't meaning it was Claude, I was merely relating the fact that Claude is like that, in the manner of nonchalantly smacking rock, and talking and seemingly not paying attention to what he is doing.  Like some talking and whittling on a stick, and then ending up with a beautiful point.  Glad you are going to more.  I went to my first one this weekend.  Met some nice people, and saw some great stuff, and bought a little stone, and had some given to me, so it was well worth the three hour drive.  I will definitely try to make the next one, and stay longer. :)

                                                                               Wayne
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Offline jcinpc

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Re: my first knapp in.
« Reply #8 on: February 23, 2009, 12:38:10 am »
heres some pots Claude made and some of him making a sweet hillsborough from a piece of coral I gave him
















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Offline xin

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Re: my first knapp in.
« Reply #9 on: February 23, 2009, 12:50:50 pm »
Great pots!GreatPoints! Great Pics.  Love it when people make posts like this.  Thank you!!!!!!!!
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Offline stickbender

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Re: my first knapp in.
« Reply #10 on: February 23, 2009, 04:35:29 pm »

     Thanks Jeff.  Those are nice pictures.  And the three " Mud Bugs " next to the truck also.  Found some more coral I take it.  How come you haven't gotten into the knapping yet?  You really should.  You live near Claude, you have all the rock you could want.  Why not be addicts like the rest of us?  You would advance pretty quickly with the resources you have.  I have to drive over two hours to get to Eddies, and then drive to Claudes house, and you live near him, AND Have Rock!!! :o  Well Sailordad, what do you think of someone like that?  I can't say anything bad about him, he did give me some nice rock.  But it is powerful confusing as to why he has not attempted to knap.  With all the resources he has available to him.  I know he loves to dig, and collect, so I would think that would be the next logical step, in reproducing them......Getting all this Jeff?  I just think you would be very good at.  I may be getting in touch with you a little later, when my leg heals, and I will bring my Buddy Tim who is getting into this, and get some rock from you.  Maybe trade a knife for it.  Thanks again for the pictures, and the rock you gave me.  Oh, did you try the wheels, on the knife I gave you?  Talk to Eddie, or better yet, go over to his house, and he can show you how he does it.  Better get over before he goes to Alberta.  March 3.  And when he comes back he will be Turkey hunting. ;)

                                                                             Wayne
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Offline sailordad

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Re: my first knapp in.
« Reply #11 on: February 23, 2009, 06:25:55 pm »
yup i gotta say if i had acces to all that rock and someone with such talent i probably would have started this a long
long time ago.
i person with that much rock around that is knappible and doesnt knapp himself
really should be a friend and mail some out to those of us who liove in an area that has very little to no knappible rock.

oh ya did i forget to mention that the guys at the knapp in (the ones who know what they are talking about) said that mn is
one of the few areas that has very little knappible rock of a decent grade in this part of the continent.
they did say that the natives would make a lot of stone tools with the availible rock and just leave them lay when they were finished with the
project at hand simply because the poor quality of rock and its abundance.they claimed that most if not all the rock used for point and blades
were traded for from other areas.
not sure ifn they was yanking my chain or not,but i like to think they knew what they were talking about.

so i guess according to them,Minnesota has no real rock of quality.
you live amongst all that great knappible rock and dont use it :o :-[

what a shame,mail me some i would be happy to bleed all over it for awhile ;D ;)

                                                                                      peace,
                                                                                            tim
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i always wanted a harley,untill it became the "thing to ride"
i ride because i love to,not to be part of the crowd

Offline DanaM

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Re: my first knapp in.
« Reply #12 on: February 23, 2009, 07:14:09 pm »
Tim don't feel alone the UP has beans for rock :'( Lots of ice but no rock :P
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"Prosperity is a way of living and thinking, and not just money or things. Poverty is a way of living and thinking, and not just a lack of money or things."

Manistique, MI

Offline sailordad

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Re: my first knapp in.
« Reply #13 on: February 23, 2009, 07:48:20 pm »
yup this time of year all we have is ice and frozen dung to knapp,the rest of the year we wait for it to freeze so we can knapp lol
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i always wanted a harley,untill it became the "thing to ride"
i ride because i love to,not to be part of the crowd

Offline jcinpc

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Re: my first knapp in.
« Reply #14 on: February 23, 2009, 08:25:27 pm »
thanks wayne, claude has been trying to teach me  for a few years but I just dont care (yet ) to pick it up.Still have too much love for digging.I do make cabachons/jewelry out of coral.does that count? My coral supply has dwindled severly over the last year or two. heres some pics of the real ones and the coral and the kids helping me. they do get "paid" for helping me, they are a  part of the business too.
































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