Notching tool for Mason

[nocams]

Heh Guys,
Mason had a nice head almost finished today and I begged him to leave it alone till we could get back with ya'll. He gets so excited about finishing one that he could not leave it alone. It turned out okay but not the notch style he wanted. He mentioned the notching tool that Shannon has...... ? Shannon, tell me what it is and if you made it and what you made it out of and I will make him one. Mason said it was a steel nail and it was curved, not straight like a normal copper flaker

I am trying my best not to waste good rock and getting some thin bifaces. Knocked out a nice one last night with Mason's coaching. It is roughly 3" long and 2" wide and less than 3/16" thick. Shannon, it is that Keokuk, I like it. However, with my limited experience I don't know what I really like since all I have beat on so far is that rock and some other scraps from Pappy's. I am going to take everyone's advice and stay away from that danged old, "Obshitian" as Shannon calls it, so I do not learn bad habits from the beginning. My plan is to make as many thin bifaces as I can so that when I get back to ya'll I can learn pressure flaking and then notching after that. Hopefully, that way I will not waste rock and come up with some points rather than a bunch of scraps

[FlintWalker]

Obsidian won't teach ya bad habits. I just don't like the blood loss or being covered with all those tiny little specks of it. I just don't like it.  That don't make it bad though.
 As for the notcher... It's just like any other hand held flaker except I have a 16 penny nail in the end instead of a piece of copper. I also hammer it flat and file the end at a slight angle. Don't grind it flat, as that will leave it too narrow and when you really lean into it it'll bend and break things.  The slight angle on the end is so I can "hook" the platform with it and pop off the flakes.  Regular 'ol nails are about as soft as horseshoe nails, so they bite pretty good. If you could burn them first to soften them up a little more, that would be even better.

[leapingbare]

I use the same thing. except mine nail is pounded flat and then i file a V tip on it. For the same resions as Shanon dose his tip.
I only use it on smaller arrowheads like pine trees and stuff. If its a ticker piece i punch notch.

[sailordad]

i have a horse shoe nail notcher
but most times i find myself just using a had flaker with a copper tip thats filed to a point
but then again my notching isnt like them twos either 

Shannon glad ya cleared that up aboot the obsidion
cause i just finished up a real nice dalton tonight from some peacock obsidion
and i didnt even bleed either,maybe its cause of all the obsidion that i use,no blood left 

[nocams]

Thanks guys ! I will get us two notchers made up today.