Hammer stones

[toms22]

Where can you find buy some hammer stones, also what is the best.

[GlassKnapper]

Local creek, river etc. I picked some up the other day in front of Red Lobster, some people just look at ya funny.

[sailordad]

yup,i was down in the twin cities last week doing some FORD training
when we were on break i was picking thru all the landscape rock
the other guys and the instructor thought i was nuts and said i needed a hobby
thats when i told them " this is my hobby"
then i grabed a larger rock and a piece of quartz and ran i quick stitch down one side and edged it and showed them
then they realy thought i needed a hoby lol

just look around,good hammerstones are evdery where
what type works for one guy might not be what you will like swinging
just grabs some and give them a try,youll find come that you like to swing

[mullet]

 I have to buy mine also, no round river rock here. If you go to a landscape/ nursery place they usually have big bins of landscaping stone. Most of the time you can get one or two for a couple of bucks or free.

[nugget]

Tom if you come up this weekend I can show you what I use and also where to get some. I get mine from a landscaper near my house. He has tons of rock to sort through.

[aaron]

like the other guys said- try some and decide what works for you. most of mine are harder varities of sandstone- the sandstone crumbles a little with each hit. On really big stuff (like removing a foot-long spall off a bucket-sized core) I use a big piece of quartzite . the sandstone works more like antler (softer) while the quartzite is more like copper (even harder than copper). I am knappping obsidian. I think Harder rocks like chert require softer hammers.

[Hillbilly]

Yeah, you don't want a hard, slick hammerstone. Softish and gritty is the way to go. Sandstone or rotten limestone work good.

[knap_123]

absolutely no shortage of good hammerstones found in the creeks and rivers here in al.  if anybody wants to trade a box of stone i'll fill up a box of assorted hammerstones.

[Bill Skinner]

I'm over in the Blackbelt, if you find a rock outside the Tombigbee or Alabama Rivers, some one carried it to there and dropped it.  Bill

[Grunt]

Sunday last I sat in my sea kayak at the mouth of the Linville river where it flows into Lake James and picked up about forty pounds of good river cobbles. I had about fifty shoreline yards of good water worn granite and quartz to go through just sitting in my boat. All the stones are hard ones but the ones I got fit the hand pretty good. Might make some war clubs too.

[Blacktail]

if you can find it...jim winn as a video on youtube about working with hammer stone..john

[david w.]

I have this round quartsite or something that I like to use.  I had these soft-ish billlet shaped rocks that I really liked but they broke after a couple day.

[SiletzSpey]

(sorry about the broken picture link - fixed it 8/15/09)

When I took my first knapping class, I was given some sandstone from <can't say>, and was told it represented some of the finest stone for knapping. I did some research which suggested the sandstone from <can't say> was "calcareous sandstone". A few minutes of googling, and I found some maps showing outcrops on the Oregon coast.

Here are typical examples of what I have found on the Oregon coast since:



From worst to best. The upper right stone felt like sandstone, but the gritty surface wore off in minutes, and soon thereafter broke and revealed a gray clayish interior. The lower right stone has a very classic sand look and feel, but was dry and brittle and eventually broke into bits.

The lower left stone also has a very classic sand look and feel, but the color is much brighter, and there are small shinny black specs there-in. Its proven to be a nice hammerstone. The upper left stone is even lighter in color, and has very small white/silver shinny specs there-in. It is an excellent hammerstone, and very tough.

At this point I've developed an eye for the attributes above, and I'm consistently getting the nice sandy yet very durable sandstones when I visit the coast. I dare say less than 2% of the coastal sandstone I've seen is prime, with the biggest consistent giveaway being the whiteness. No doubt the key attributes change per region/state, but taking some time to determine the attributes may yield results.

Happy stone hunting.

--SiletzSpey

[sailordad]

cant see your pic there dude