Results 1 to 16 of 16

Thread: Terrible knapping

  1. #1
    reclinite automaton canid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Central California/West Texas
    Posts
    6,622

    Default Terrible knapping

    well i've been out of practice, but i got a nice little load of obsidian and i've been getting my boppers back in the swing of things.

    here's a couple pieces i'm working on:

    Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.
    two decorative war club heads that didn't turn out all that great, and an antler handles knife in progress.

    Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.
    that earlier knife blade, along with the makings of a lanceolate blade for a special project and a corner tang i'm working on.

    this stuff isn't like riding a bicycle. i've turned out these pieces, some nice points and a whole lot of chubby bifaces not fit for show.
    Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice - Grey's Law.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    To see what's going on in my knife shop check out CanidArmory on Youtube or on Facebook.


  2. #2
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    North Florida
    Posts
    44,846

    Default

    They look pretty good from where I'm sitting.
    Can't Means Won't

    My Youtube Channel

  3. #3
    reclinite automaton canid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Central California/West Texas
    Posts
    6,622

    Default

    a lateral view would tell a different story
    Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice - Grey's Law.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    To see what's going on in my knife shop check out CanidArmory on Youtube or on Facebook.

  4. #4
    naturalist primitive your_comforting_company's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    31º4.3'N, 84º52.7'W
    Posts
    3,969
    Blog Entries
    7

    Default

    They don't have to be perfect to work. That's some really nice material. Just a suggestion, why not warm up on some lower quality stone, then go back to the obsidian? I like to start with any old thing, toilet tank, chert, or whatever, to get my strikes back on target before going to my good materials.
    I have to agree with Crash, from where I'm sitting, they look really good.

    Are you using copper tools, or other stones, or antler?

    I'm eager to get back to knapping too. Never was much count at it, but I could at least make a rock sharp lol.

  5. #5
    reclinite automaton canid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Central California/West Texas
    Posts
    6,622

    Default

    They don't have to be perfect to work.
    this has become my anthem.

    as for lower quality stone; i don't have any. this was from a load i got from a guy i sold a knife to, and the only stone i've had in some time. I play around with bottle glass, porcelain and basalt from time to time as chance allows as well.

    as for tools, i use the whole spectum; antler billets, copper caps on wood billets, iron/copper flaking tools, antler flakers, stone percussors, stone abraders, etc. i finally made a leather cutout pad for flaking, though i still prefer a soft buckskin for most work and a flat leather pad for harder percussion.

    one of these days i'll make to over to santa cruz to visit my friend and then maybe i can pick up some chert. all the jasper i've been able to find is rotten with those square/cubit freeze cracks, and anything else knappable i only occasionally find and in single small cobbles/pebbles. a road trip is well in order. on the plus side, i'm only a couple hours from millions of tons of obsidian flows.
    Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice - Grey's Law.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    To see what's going on in my knife shop check out CanidArmory on Youtube or on Facebook.

  6. #6
    naturalist primitive your_comforting_company's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    31º4.3'N, 84º52.7'W
    Posts
    3,969
    Blog Entries
    7

    Default

    on the plus side, i'm only a couple hours from millions of tons of obsidian flows
    You are one lucky canid! I'm a couple STATES away from obsidian flows. Best I can hope for is jasper, chert, honey, and other knappers willing to trade.

  7. #7
    reclinite automaton canid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Central California/West Texas
    Posts
    6,622

    Default

    some of the jasper work i've seen is phenomenal; though i think cooking does magic things to it. finding solid pieces of it in any appreciable size has not been easy for me.

    hinging as much as i do (not very percise with angles while doing percussion work), i've got to say that i love obsidian's tolerance to goober picking. no other stone i've worked with seem to put up with it so readily.
    Last edited by canid; 03-23-2011 at 07:59 AM.
    Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice - Grey's Law.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    To see what's going on in my knife shop check out CanidArmory on Youtube or on Facebook.

  8. #8
    Voice in the Wilderness preachtheWORD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    The Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia
    Posts
    360

    Default

    Those look nice to me, especially if you made them totally by percussion.
    Preach It - Teach It - LIVE IT

  9. #9
    reclinite automaton canid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Central California/West Texas
    Posts
    6,622

    Default

    percussion and abrading [the edge of the bopper is handy for that, and the knives some pressure flaking as well. the top knives complete passes and the bottom knife is still undergoing some serious pressure flaking to remove crud and such, and then to fix the uneven edges. it really had some trouble.
    Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice - Grey's Law.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    To see what's going on in my knife shop check out CanidArmory on Youtube or on Facebook.

  10. #10
    Banned
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Southern California, High desert
    Posts
    7,436

    Default

    Looks good to me too

  11. #11
    reclinite automaton canid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Central California/West Texas
    Posts
    6,622

    Default

    and here is the special project i mentioned; something of a phoenix which went down in a flame and was reborn into something new:
    Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

    hopefully it lives longer than it's predecessor.
    Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice - Grey's Law.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    To see what's going on in my knife shop check out CanidArmory on Youtube or on Facebook.

  12. #12
    Banned
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Southern California, High desert
    Posts
    7,436

    Default

    is that one of those sling things ?

  13. #13
    naturalist primitive your_comforting_company's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    31º4.3'N, 84º52.7'W
    Posts
    3,969
    Blog Entries
    7

    Default

    An atlatl. looks like it's made from a bow limb. Looks Great!

  14. #14
    reclinite automaton canid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Central California/West Texas
    Posts
    6,622

    Default

    yep. that bow delaminated on me and almost took out my eye when it failed. i turned it into a knife handle and an atlatl after i got tired of it sitting around my workshop.
    Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice - Grey's Law.
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    To see what's going on in my knife shop check out CanidArmory on Youtube or on Facebook.

  15. #15
    naturalist primitive your_comforting_company's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    31º4.3'N, 84º52.7'W
    Posts
    3,969
    Blog Entries
    7

    Default

    It's all fun and games till someone loses an eye.



    I think what FVR said about making bows, applies to knapping also:
    "If you ain't breakin 'em, you ain't makin 'em"
    Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. Helen Keller

    My Plants
    My skills
    Eye Candy
    Plant terminology reference!
    Moving pictures

  16. #16
    Banned
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    North Ohio
    Posts
    936

    Default

    Nice work C, the little bit of knapping I do is not even close to the quality of yours. I made my boppers, antler knapping and hammer stones and have done some knapping. Mostly arrow heads and knives. The knives I make have notches rather than a tang. I took a class in it about 1998 or so and was a lot of fun.

    I have tried the bottle arrow heads, works great, actually spoils you, then go back to obsidian or pink flint and bam... back to making hand fulls of mistakes LOL

    I was told that unless you do about 50lbs a month you lose your skills. I have about 200lbs of cores in the garage. I also have a 5 gal bucket of in process pieces....just never any time to sit down that long to finish them.

    The prices of cores on eBay are off the charts. I am glad I live in an area that has a lot of grey, pink and blue flint cores. The obsidan I get from a friend in CaliI trade him Buckeyes and he sends me the rocks LOL

    Good work, will be looking forward to more from you... I love to see things that are hand made.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •