Now what?

[jeffp51]

As an early birthday gift, my brother just brought me two five gallon buckets of obsidian from California. I have only ever succeeded with bottle bottoms.  How do I reduce whole chunks? When I watch online vids, it looks like magic. It always looks so easy. What size boppers do I start with?

I might be willing to trade some rock for some tools to break it.

[Zuma]

I would slab it.
Zuma

[caveman2533]

I would start with a hammerstone that is not super hard and  begin taking some large flakes off. find some video about spalling.

[StevenT]

You said you have been working with glass, so you know about sharp. But be warned, Obsidian is a different animal altogether and as sharp as anything you will handle. Great stuff to work with but be warned and think safety. Another thought, 2 five gallon buckets will not last long. I would hang on to it and make your own boppers. You can make a few copper top boppers for pennies and have several different sizes. Just search for copper boppers. Easy to make, cheap and they will work well on obsidian. Show us pics of what you come up with.

[JoJoDapyro]

Jeff, I like to use stones vs boppers on obsidian. You can make your own boppers. I have made all of my own. What size are the chunks?

[Stringman]

I disagree with Steven. Send me both buckets and I'll send you some boppers. Then ask your brother for more!! 

Sounds like you're getting good advise.

[JoJoDapyro]

I also disagree. I got one bucket and it was just about 50 pounds. it has lasted a few weeks so far, and I'm far from done!

[Tracker0721]

I know how you feel. I got some georgetown flint from Curtis Smith who gave me a quick lesson. Knocked out an andice point in 15-30 minutes from huge chunk to almost perfect point. Included in that time he spalled a whole piece into all usable piece before choosing that flake to use. Needless to say I destroyed an entire chunk and only got 3 arrowheads out of it. Since then I've learned you have to attack it with a big enough bopper, use the ridges, make sure your not shooting into a depression, and if you think every shot will make a great flake without studying the piece first to see where it should pop off at then your a noob.

[JackCrafty]

Just start knocking flakes off the chunks and then ask for two more buckets.   

Seriously, boppers in the 3/4" to 1" diameter range, either copper or antler, will work nicely on obsidian of all sizes.  Be gentle and try removing many thin flakes instead of a few large ones when creating bifaces.  As you get better, you can get bolder and remove less flakes that are thicker.  I prefer to use indirect percussion for all stages of reduction on obsidian but careful use of billets or boppers is also very effective.  Boppers just create more waste, in my opinion.

[jeffp51]

thanks for the replies.  Jack, I have watched lots of your videos and really admire your stuff, and have learned a lot from it.  But I can't seem to make the indirect percussion work at all.  I think I have the wrong equipment.  Here are some pictures of my haul.  My brother admits that he didn't know what he was looking for--and neither do I for that matter--so he just made his best guess.  most pieces are about fist size or double fist sized.  the pictures are a representative sample of one bucket.  I figure about 110 lbs in all.

[JackCrafty]

Thanks for those pictures.  There are a lot of "turtleback" pieces in there so it will be difficult to make bifaces out of them no matter what your skill level.  But don't get discouraged.  Learning how to deal with turtlebacks will make you a much better knapper than someone who works only flakes and/or slabs, in my opinion.

If you can somehow get the indirect method to work for you, it will make a world of difference.  In the meantime, bevel some edges and strike off some thinning flakes from the beveled edge.  Attack the thickest areas first.

[JoJoDapyro]

Jeff, as soon as I have a phone I will give you some numbers of some knappers in you area. One does all indirect, one does direct.

[jeffp51]

What happened to your phone?

[JoJoDapyro]

LOL, Long story. I will have the same number, should be the middle of next week at the latest. If you have facebook, look up Mark Burdet (not sure if it is spelled right) and Bo Earls. Bo only has a "Fan Page" titled "Utah flint knapper Bo Earls" or something along those lines. Bo is in American Fork, and I believe Mark is in Provo. Mark makes a lot of Micro arrow heads. I'm talking pinky nail type stuff. Bo does all sorts of work. Wasatchflintknappers (all one word) is the group that meets in Lehi, it has been awhile since anyone besides myself and Mark has showed up, being summer and all. In the winter they meet the first Saturday of every month at the Hutchings museum in Lehi. If you have access to a tile saw, you can slab the smaller stuff out. That is what I have done in the past with mine. As stated, this stuff is super sharp. I cut myself every time I work it.

[PrimitiveTim]

Saw a fella using obsidian as a hammerstone so I tried it and it works just fine.  Yeah just grab a rock and start breaking.  The magic will come to you