can cooking hornstone improve knappability?

[beartail]

I have some hornstone slabs and was wondering if cooking it would help it be a little easyer to work.what temp would ya use?

[caveman2533]

nope, it will likely destroy it. you could try some at a low temp but it will likely kill it.  As a general rule of thumb blues and blacks can not be heated novaculite is one exception.

[Hopewell point]

Like Caveman said, it will blow up. It doesn't need it anyways.

[TRACY]

I've experimented heating some of the low grade grainy hornstone with no improvement. If it doesn't knap well then it isn't good hornstone. It flakes real easy. Caveman summed it up.

Tracy

[Zuma]

Ditto 
Zuma

[Chippintuff]

Mikki, I'll try a piece of it tonight and let you know how it works for me.

WA

[Chippintuff]

Mikki, I have to agree with you. It is tough. It's appearance is very homogenous and clean, but it takes a lot of force to detach a flake. My suspicion is that it requires a little practice with it to get a method down. I have not tried to cook it to see whether it improves, but from what the others are saying, I think it might be a good idea to not cook it or experiment with only two or three pieces to see how it responds. As dark as that stuff is, I bet anything over 350 will fracture it beyond usefulness.

WA

[JackCrafty]

Hornstone is some of the best stuff I've ever worked.  Maybe I'm lucky but I've not had a bad experience with it.  Can't imagine how much better it would get with heat, it works great as-is.

[TRACY]

Mikki, I have to agree with you. It is tough. It's appearance is very homogenous and clean, but it takes a lot of force to detach a flake. My suspicion is that it requires a little practice with it to get a method down. I have not tried to cook it to see whether it improves, but from what the others are saying, I think it might be a good idea to not cook it or experiment with only two or three pieces to see how it responds. As dark as that stuff is, I bet anything over 350 will fracture it beyond usefulness.

WA

Got me wondering if you have something other than true hornstone. Even the low grade stuff with concrete in it knaps decently. Got any pics of the stuff?

Tracy

[Chippintuff]

I'll get some in daylight tomorrow to get the colors right. It is from the same piece Beartail is working.

WA

[beartail]

maybe it is something other than horstone. it looks like it would be easy to work but it is almost as hard as rhyolite to me! im gonna attempt to post a pic
https://scontent-atl1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/s526x395/10252182_1037445189623958_144710169888727549_n.jpg?oh=8154ac15c58b9e9810140e2d533a7d0c&oe=55E6E9F0

[beartail]

that's it yall. maby some one can id it.

[Chippintuff]

Here is the piece that I started chipping from this rock. The flake scars are nice, but my take on it is that it takes a lot of pressure to peel the flakes off. With an attitude adjustment, I was able to flake it, but of course I broke it in the middle.

[beartail]

dang man! don't that make you sick? is some perty scars though! I wish it was a little easier to knapp.  should make for some good hunting points. should hold up good while tooning your arrows, wont break as easy? maybe some one will see that it aint horn stone and can be cooked. of course ya could just try a little piece and see if it improves it but that's a lot of energy wastin if it don't!

[beartail]

hay,could it Georgetown? can ya cook Georgetown?