The Knapping Thread - Show your projects, Discuss techniques, Give and receive advice

[crashdive123]

Well done. In order to alleviate the pressure and pain in your wrist, do more percussion knapping. I have found that when I do, the bruises on my left thigh usually take my mind off my wrist.

[your_comforting_company]

Amazing stuff PTW. I broke all but one I made this week. Bad rock is just bad lol.
You are making some amazing progress. The first one in the second row looks twisted. like it has a "spiraled" edge. If that's the case, how do you maintain the thickness while making the twist?
I gotta get Craig to show me that trick, but he's been sick lately, so I'm not taking any chances with him!

[canid]

Well done. In order to alleviate the pressure and pain in your wrist, do more percussion knapping. I have found that when I do, the bruises on my left thigh usually take my mind off my wrist.

i've also gotta recommend the ishi stick. having such a long lever allows you to do the pushing with your forearm and thigh, and your wrist needn't move at all.

[crashdive123]

i've also gotta recommend the ishi stick. having such a long lever allows you to do the pushing with your forearm and thigh, and your wrist needn't move at all.

I made one, but have not gotten the hang of it yet.

[canid]

it's taking me a while too, but it's working out much better on my wrist.

[your_comforting_company]

Not sure what an ishi stick is, I gotta look that up, but I use my legs and forearms more than anything. I actually finished a small spade point tonight out of that crappy rock I've been breaking all week. My new fire-sticks aren't quite dry enough yet, since it rained on them yesterday, so I decided banging on rocks was the way to go tonight.

[crashdive123]

It's a much longer tool for your pressure flaking. One that you can kind of use your body instead of your wrist/hand. The one I made is about 30 inches long.

[canid]

yeah, it's just a flaker with a stout handle, long enough to brace the piece against your thich, and brace the flaker against your forearm, so you just push your arm and the leg supporting the workpiece together, instead of pushing with your hand and turning your wrist.

it's better for larger, heavier flaking, but as i've been told by people who's oppinions i respect [and carpel tunnel syndrome i don't envy], you should learn to do it for any flaking heavy enough to cause the slightest wrist discomfort.

[hunter63]

Nice work, boys, you are really getting down to the details.

Just a question, is anyone trying any particular style, or era?
Or just using available material determine final shape?

[canid]

i use whatever i can get my hands on, and i just try to let the rock become what it's inclined to, rather than pursuing any particular form or style, lest it seem forced.

i'll learn to do more specific point/tool types as my skill progresses.

[your_comforting_company]

I Let the rock be what it wants to be. most times it seems it wants to be smaller rocks lol. I don't do styles other than basic outline shapes for tools, like drill bits. That reminds me.. I never did post pics of my drill. For points, I take what I get from the rock. When my skills improve, I might be able to force shapes, but for now, I don't worry about it.

[preachtheWORD]

In order to alleviate the pressure and pain in your wrist, do more percussion knapping. I have found that when I do, the bruises on my left thigh usually take my mind off my wrist.

I would really like to learn how to percussion flake. I know that the basic principle is to whack the stone with another stone or tool. But something tells me that there is an art to it.

Would someone with some experience on the matter care to put together and post a tutorial on percussion flaking with descriptions, pictures, etc.? That would be very useful.

Thanks guys. I have been away all weekend and I am glad to be back home - at my house and on WSF

[preachtheWORD]

The first one in the second row looks twisted. like it has a "spiraled" edge. If that's the case, how do you maintain the thickness while making the twist?

That particular point looks like that more because of the shape and nature of the stone than because of anything I did. It was a thicker piece of quartz with a big lump on it. I chose to work with the lump instead of working against it, and the result was a thicker, more twisted point. From a practical sense, I figured the point would be just as functional, even if it looked rough.

This white quartz was by far the most used local knapping stone in my area. It is much different than obsidian, glass, or chert. You can't get long flakes, and it can come off in chunks. But really, I don't think it was all that much harder to work with if you are wanting a purely functional point. But it would not be ideal for making a "show point."

I Let the rock be what it wants to be.

i use whatever i can get my hands on, and i just try to let the rock become what it's inclined to, rather than pursuing any particular form or style, lest it seem forced.

This is pretty much my philosophy, too. Rather than deciding ahead of time what style of point I want to make, I let the stone tell me.

I hope to knapp a few more between now and tommorrow evening. I sure would like to see what you guys are working on.

[preachtheWORD]

Today I made a little more progress. I worked with a hammerstone for the first time. I used the hammerstone to percussion flake two glass points and a point made from some very hard chert-like stone. I started by percussion flaking and finished them by pressure flaking. Here are some pictures and explanations.


This is my hammerstone (it is quartzite, I think), and half of the bottom of a big jar. I started with the whole thing but broke it right in half not long after starting.
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The same piece of glass after roughing it down with the hammerstone.
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Now here it is after some pressure flaking.
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The finished point:
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Here are the three points I made today.
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My first experiences with percusion flaking were pretty good. I broke a few pieces along the way, but overall it was not as hard as I expected. I would like to hear about the experiences you guys have had.

[crashdive123]

Nice work. You really are doing well.

[Batch]

Nice work PTW!

[your_comforting_company]

Did you hold the glass out in front of you, or did you brace it on your leg? I got some old carpet I use to pad my leg when I get down to the nitty gritty.

[preachtheWORD]

Did you hold the glass out in front of you, or did you brace it on your leg? I got some old carpet I use to pad my leg when I get down to the nitty gritty.

To percusion flake the glass I rested my wrist on my leg and struck downward with the hammerstone, with a bucket underneath to catch the shrapnel. That worked pretty good. For tougher stone I braced most of my hand on my leg.
When I am pressure flaking I lay an old piece of rug across my lap upside down to catch the flakes and keep the bucket in front of me to dump them in. I haven't gotten to the point where I have to used anything pad my leg. Maybe I'm not doing it right?


Well, here is this afternoon's progress:
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The top left is from the bottom of a bottle. The smaller glass point is a recycled piece from a broken earlier attempt at a larger point. The small obsidian point is also from the remains of a broken earlier attempt. The larger obsidian point is from very rough spall. The orange point is from a very thin flake of some kind of very hard stone, not sure what it is.

It has been fun posting my stuff, but I would much rather see something from you other guys! So put up your pictures!

[canid]

looks like a rose quartz, and it looks like it's got some nice banding [i guess that would make it an agate?]. i think i've still got one small rose quartz point.

[your_comforting_company]

... Maybe I'm not doing it right?

LOL. You gotta be kidding me! You are definately doing something right!

It seems easier for me to brace the piece against my leg and hold the back edge down with my left hand. I strike at the edge with a glancing blow and the billet hits my leg. I do some held out in front, but that's usually just for roughing spalls into thinner pieces.
I'd post up pics, but somehow I keep breaking them. Also been pretty busy with the garden lately, but I'll get back on it soon. I need more practice!