Author Topic: First Points of the Year  (Read 1208 times)

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Offline RickB

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First Points of the Year
« on: January 16, 2024, 01:06:58 pm »
First points of the year. Knapped from some North Carolina milky white quartz I picked up a few years ago.
It is hard (for me) to find a piece that doesn't have those dreaded cracks. I had a third attempt break in half right on a
crack line while I was thinning it down. I knew it would happen and sure enough it broke. Point style - in the
Southeastern US we call these Yadkins.



« Last Edit: January 19, 2024, 10:05:54 pm by RickB »

Offline bjrogg

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Re: First Points of the Year
« Reply #1 on: January 16, 2024, 01:51:34 pm »
Thanks for posting. Rick

That is some really milky white quartz. I have played around a little with stuff I find here too.

Not the easiest stuff to work with but it does make a point.

Nice work

Bjrogg
A hot cup of coffee and a beautiful sunrise

Offline Allyn T

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Re: First Points of the Year
« Reply #2 on: January 16, 2024, 05:45:46 pm »
Look good, I've heard quartz is tough to work. How does it flake?
In the woods I find my peace

Offline RickB

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Re: First Points of the Year
« Reply #3 on: January 16, 2024, 06:28:36 pm »
Allyn, it actually flaked pretty good but for me the quartz has always had to be fracture free. I used indirect pressure to thin what were already smaller/thinner pieces and finished with a lot of pressure flaking with a copper tipped antler flaker and Ishi stick. I have a local friend who used percussion on a couple clear Arkansas quartz crystals recently with a copper bopper. The clear part worked great but when he worked the whitish colored base of the crystal he had a lot of problems. It's worth a try and I intend to work a piece on occasion.

Offline Parnell

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Re: First Points of the Year
« Reply #4 on: January 17, 2024, 09:55:36 am »
That’s really interesting to see Rick.  Thanks for posting.  I haven’t used the material.  Is most found at the surface and freeze cracked etc or it just how it’s formed over time?
1’—>1’

Offline RickB

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Re: First Points of the Year
« Reply #5 on: January 17, 2024, 12:38:32 pm »
Parnell, quartz is brittle, cracks very easily and is found that way. That's the nature of the beast. I've dug it while looking for crystals, etc. or surface
found it. Around here it is everywhere but most of it is highly fractured or have internal crystal formations. The best quartz I ever worked actually
came from one of those marble counter top places. It was mostly clear with white streaky inclusions. I tried a billet on it and it flaked very good but
started introducing little fractures that I could see in the clear quartz. Changed to indirect and pressure flaking with an Ishi stick and it worked
out ok. Flakes wanted to stall out where the white streak went through it at an angle around the base. I had to angle my pressure flaking along
the plane the inclusion was running instead of directly into it. Will post another photo or two of earlier attempts at quartz. Here in central South
Carolina quartz and quartzite were the primary lithic material that early man used. There is a small mix of rhyolite and chert from the west of us
and rhyolite from the northeast of us. Most folks that I know who knap a little quartz usually use the larger broken clear crystals.

Earlier and crude quartz point attempts with a preform. 4 3/4" clear quartz (counter top point) on left side of leather was done about six years ago.



« Last Edit: January 21, 2024, 09:38:28 am by RickB »

Offline Allyn T

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Re: First Points of the Year
« Reply #6 on: January 19, 2024, 06:52:52 pm »
Rick that is a great description of how the rock works, I really appreciate that. I don't think I could describe knapping anything nearly as well as you did.
In the woods I find my peace

Offline RickB

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Re: First Points of the Year
« Reply #7 on: January 21, 2024, 09:25:53 am »
One of our members here, Billy Berger (Primitive Pathways on YouTube), has a video out on working quartz. Pieces I used were less fractured than
the ones he shows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBqqLViY5jc
« Last Edit: January 21, 2024, 09:39:29 am by RickB »

Offline bjrogg

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Re: First Points of the Year
« Reply #8 on: January 21, 2024, 10:35:29 am »
Thanks for posting this Rick. This has definitely been my experience with the quartz I have tried. I think I might have to give it a try again. I didn’t realize it was so widely used.

Bjrogg
A hot cup of coffee and a beautiful sunrise

Offline Parnell

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Re: First Points of the Year
« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2024, 01:14:13 pm »
Thanks for the explanation, Rick.  Look forward to trying that sometime.
1’—>1’