Blades Knapped from Flint & Obsidian

[masterswimmer]

I use to do some flint knapping when I was teen, Haven't done any since, people thought I was nuts. View attachment 45683 View attachment 45686 View attachment 45689 View attachment 45692 View attachment 45693 View attachment 45695 View attachment 45696 View attachment 45697 View attachment 45698 View attachment 45700 View attachment 45701 View attachment 45702

Very nice work. You might have been nuts to some but I'll bet you were the sharpest tool in the shed

 

[Robin]

Cool shit Holdover!!!!!!
Robin

 

[holdover]

Thanks, Most people thought I was nuts, So I stopped doing it .

 

[masterswimmer]

Thanks, Most people thought I was nuts, So I stopped doing it .

I've always wanted to learn. You should get back into it. Real cool craft.

 

[holdover]

It is. Its not real hard to learn, a caveman can do it .Most people didn't think to much of it .

Whatcha doin?
Making arrowheads.
Why?
Don't know, just like making shit I guess.
Well why don't you go make money?
What do you do with them?
Nothing.
So why are you making them ?
Don't know, just like making shit I guess.
you should have been born 250 years ago.
I was.

 

[masterswimmer]

It is. Its not real hard to learn, a caveman can do it .Most people didn't think to much of it .

Whatcha doin?
Making arrowheads.
Why?
Don't know, just like making shit I guess.
Well why don't you go make money?
What do you do with them?
Nothing.
So why are you making them ?
Don't know, just like making shit I guess.
you should have been born 250 years ago.
I was.

I can understand those answers from a 15 y/o. Would the answers be the same today?

 

[holdover]

LOL, pretty close, I don't like explaining myself to other people,

""Those seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music""

 

[holdover]

There's lot of videos on You tube. the trick is, you need the right material and the right tools. You can get them at a flint knapper supply store online. I didn't have you tube when I learned so it was a little harder. the easiest way to learn is to use glass. the next step is to use obsidian, then Texas chert or Novoclite. Some of the prettier stones need to be heat treated because they are tough . the local stuff you will find all around the state is called Onondaga chert, useually found in limestone beds , you can usually see it along the thuway, that black vein that makes the stripes is Onadega chert.Its a tough mother fucker to work with . it really needs to be heat treated to bring out its best but you can work it anyway.
I Had a vein of running through the rail road tracks , but its all over. Its light to dark grey or black, and you don't need to do much to make a razor sharp flake you can skin a deer with . Just break it and you have a useable tool.

these arnt mine , but you may recognize the stone.

 

[S&W Fan]

There are also plenty of good youtube vids that show you how to make your own flint knapping tools. That isn’t very hard either. The easiest stuff that I learned to work with as a beginner was Johnstone. It’s the stuff that toilet tank covers are made of, and like glass , readily available.

 

[masterswimmer]

There's lot of videos on You tube. the trick is, you need the right material and the right tools. You can get them at a flint knapper supply store online. I didn't have you tube when I learned so it was a little harder. the easiest way to learn is to use glass. the next step is to use obsidian, then Texas chert or Novoclite. Some of the prettier stones need to be heat treated because they are tough . the local stuff you will find all around the state is called Onondaga chert, useually found in limestone beds , you can usually see it along the thuway, that black vein that makes the stripes is Onadega chert.Its a tough mother fucker to work with . it really needs to be heat treated to bring out its best but you can work it anyway.
I Had a vein of running through the rail road tracks , but its all over. Its light to dark grey or black, and you don't need to do much to make a razor sharp flake you can skin a deer with . Just break it and you have a useable tool.

these arnt mine , but you may recognize the stone.

I watched it all. Great series of tutorials. Thanks for posting.

 

[holdover]

I use to buy different stone from a place in Arkansas, Some was heat treated. One of my problems was that I didnt have enough money for a good moose antler billet. So it was tough working the larger peices down .I improvised with larger round hammer stones That worked Ok but you get more breakage.

The grey ones are local stone, Onadaga chert, tough bitch to work with . the clear is glass from a broken TV , the brown is Texas chert, the whiteand black are Arkansas novocilite. the tiger stripe is obsidian.

The Ol man thought I was an idiot too.

I was self taught, read books on it . not much books on back then but now theres a lot more, and you tube too. It all started when I found a spear point next door . I later found out it was used to hunt mastadon. But I was intrigued that something could be made out of something so hard,How the fuck did these cavemen make these? Couldn't figure it.

 

[holdover]

There are also plenty of good youtube vids that show you how to make your own flint knapping tools. That isn’t very hard either. The easiest stuff that I learned to work with as a beginner was Johnstone. It’s the stuff that toilet tank covers are made of, and like glass , readily available.

I made some from that too!