Made an important discovery today!

[ionicmuffin]

So i was knapping today, and i wound up finding out why i wasn't able to do percussion flaking very well. I realized today that by creating a very good support with enough pressure along the area you want to remove material, you are able to get bigger longer flakes, and they are very controlled. once i figured this out, thickness reduction wasn't nearly as hard as i had thought! i realized that by supporting properly and setting up the platform well i am able to get it to a much more manageable thickness that would be easily usable for pressure flaking! Once i made this discovery i realized why people need a large amount of material before they truly can turn them out without a problem. I am now more determined to make a trip to the buttes to gather a very large amount of rock so i can practice biface reduction. I have been doing all my learning from the internet thus far, it is tough going and not easy to do alone, but im getting it. I saw a video today that showed a guy knapping, and just like all the other vids, he was supporting his rock carefully. so i reasoned that that was the secret to getting nice flakes without massive bulbs on the end, that wind up being impossible to reduce well. Anybody else made this discovery along their learning to knapp?

[Tower]

When I began knapping. I would lay awake at night thinking about the repetitive problems I was having. I lay there & think of other ways to prevent them. I think this helped me become a better knapper. I solved a lot of my problems that way.  Tower 

[AncientArcher76]

I can say this....I have knapped with some of the finest including ken wallace craig ratzat curt smith and a handful of the old timers...each one I learned a lesson from but all of them have one thing in common...if u look at the flake they shoot off almost every one of them are a useful big flake...they all set their platforms up abrade and almost never miss...they take their time...when I was a begginer I rushed, over and undershot my strikes...I ended up with a pile of gravel...I tell u this if your pressure flaking flakes are bigger than percussion your doing something wrong...try experimenting holding it on different angles too..have a great day!

Russ

[skyarrow]

I have found the same thing proper support and good platform and you can damn near make the rock do what you want it to now mastering it is another thing lol

[gstoneberg]

Yea, just when I think I can make the rock do what I want, the next swing makes 2 spalls out of 1.  I did it 4 times last night.  Twice on the same chunk that I thought was gonna be a nice blade and ended up not even making a bird point.  I kept a couple of the larger pieces to try again on tonight.  Muffin, when you get it down I could use a lesson.

George

[ionicmuffin]

i dont think ill be that good for a while, But heres what ive been able to do with my new found power!  Ive gotten the thickness more even and more like a lens  i have also gotten to the point where i can remove some hinges and things like that. its also following the center line better..

[ojibwatbowyer]

Glad to see you found a use for the stone and antler tip, she's not as worn out as I thought. 

[ionicmuffin]

works just fine, and if i need to i can sharpen it!

[JackCrafty]

Yep, proper support is critical.   

[jamie]

im impressed, especially using antler and hammer stones. get yourself a good variety of hammer stones, some hard some soft. use the harder ones for biface reduction with large platforms. the softer ones will come in handy for thinning with smaller platforms. when using an antler pressure flaker, dont abrade. learn to dress the edge with the antler by lightly crushing the sharp edges. you'll get a better bite with the soft antler and longer flakes. im sure pat has videos of all this that will help you out. youre doing great

[AncientArcher76]

Yes sir listen to Jaimie on that one!  I also think Ishi never abraded too!!!  He did what Jaimie said dress the edge with pressure flaker!  It is very possible to reduce without using an abrader!  Also as mentioned try different hammer stones and different shapes.  I like flat egg shaped sand stone for fine work and qaurtzite round ones for spalling some smooth some grainier.. keep working at it!

Russ