Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Flintknapping => Topic started by: aaron on July 30, 2010, 12:43:00 pm

Title: flat flakes with hard hammer?
Post by: aaron on July 30, 2010, 12:43:00 pm
not sure if y'all saw this video showing an interesting approach to biface thinning. wonder if it could help with square section work at all....
http://www.youtube.com/user/clovisknapper#p/f/17/0CEtnIBf8os
never posted a link before.
Title: Re: flat flakes with hard hammer?
Post by: AncientArcher76 on July 30, 2010, 02:16:18 pm
Yeah thats a friend of mine Jeff from PP!  Good guys and a great knapper!

AA
Title: Re: flat flakes with hard hammer?
Post by: sailordad on July 30, 2010, 08:16:49 pm
 cool vid
does he have more like that on you tube?
Title: Re: flat flakes with hard hammer?
Post by: AncientArcher76 on July 30, 2010, 11:15:21 pm
Sailor u ought to know of ClovisKnapper?  He has quite a few videos on Ytube he doe quite  well with both knapping and filming his vids.

Russ
Title: Re: flat flakes with hard hammer?
Post by: caveman2533 on July 30, 2010, 11:21:03 pm
The problem I have with Mr. Eaton's assesment of hard hammer verses Soft hammer  stones is that he assumes all hammer stones are considered hard. He does not distinguish the difference between "Soft" hammer stones and "Hard" hammer stones.   To develop the kind of flakes he is creating that "look" like they were made by a soft hammer, you must use a soft hammer stone, which  produces a soft hammer  looking flake, because it is a SOFT hammer.   If you use a Hard hammer stone, you will not get the same result.
Steve
Title: Re: flat flakes with hard hammer?
Post by: skyarrow on July 30, 2010, 11:21:38 pm
wow what a great vid i did this today practicing my strikes and i could not figure out how i did it and now i know  ;)   thanx for posting
Title: Re: flat flakes with hard hammer?
Post by: caveman2533 on July 30, 2010, 11:22:40 pm
The link Arron posted is  to Jeffs channel but it is not a video Jeff did. It is a video by A Mr Charles Eaton.
Title: Re: flat flakes with hard hammer?
Post by: sailordad on July 31, 2010, 10:07:27 am
so thats clovis knapper?
i guess i should have looked at the tag for the video  ;D
i never pay attention to faces when i watch the videos,i only watch the hands and the rocks
other wise i probably would have recognized him lol

well of to you tube i go,gonna check out more of his vids

anyone know how to tell if a rock is "soft" vs "hard" for hammer stones?
Title: Re: flat flakes with hard hammer?
Post by: caveman2533 on July 31, 2010, 01:31:04 pm
Generally a softer  hammer stones is more like a sandstone pebble that will crumble faster as you use. Ar often very gritty feeling.  Supersoft stones are much like and old crumbled brick and hard ones are generally real smooth and Hard, A hard stone will not deteriorate very quickly while the soft one will start to wear from the beginning of use. Of course there are a thousand grades in between.
steve
Title: Re: flat flakes with hard hammer?
Post by: sailordad on July 31, 2010, 05:01:07 pm
weill im in minnesota,we dont have a lot of "soft" rocks
lots of granite and such,lots of river rock types
biggest piece of sandstone ive ever found around here was aboot the size of a golf ball
Title: Re: flat flakes with hard hammer?
Post by: Hardawaypoints on July 31, 2010, 10:36:20 pm
I'd like to see him do that with some quartzite or rhyolite.  It may work the same way, but I'd bet not as well.

Jim
Title: Re: flat flakes with hard hammer?
Post by: AncientArcher76 on July 31, 2010, 10:42:27 pm
Thanx Steve for the info I do use on occaision a soft river stone/ sand stone hammerstone,  also I use different types for abrasives as well.  I dont believe ordering sandstone hammerstones off the internet..lol Loads of sandstone here in NY....  Hey guys talk to u all L8tr.


Oh MY MISTAKE..thats not Jeff I didnt watch the video till now!  Sorry I didnt know there was 2 clovisknappers..lol 

Russ
Title: Re: flat flakes with hard hammer?
Post by: Hillbilly on August 02, 2010, 11:05:16 am
James Parker told me a long time ago that if you can slide a hammerstone down your jeans leg without it catching, it's too hard and slick. I've found that to be dead on. I can get good flakes with a relatively soft, gritty hammerstone, but the hard slick ones just cone the rock and take off short, thick flakes. The hammerstone he's using in the video looks a lot like the gritty, grainy, "rotten" granite/schist cobbles that I pick out of the rivers around here for hammerstones.
Title: Re: flat flakes with hard hammer?
Post by: sailordad on August 02, 2010, 07:23:16 pm
well i went back to you tube
thats not the same "clovis knapper" that does all the vids on there
Title: Re: flat flakes with hard hammer?
Post by: caveman2533 on August 03, 2010, 01:18:51 am
Hillbilly,
You are right that the hard slick ones are too hard for most knapping. They come in good for edging a particular piece or re shaping an angle to set up platforms. they are not good for thinning.
Steve
Title: Re: flat flakes with hard hammer?
Post by: AncientArcher76 on August 03, 2010, 07:47:56 pm
I bet ur right as I tried using a nice round quartzie rock about the size of a plum and itnot only makes sparks but throws thick short flakes!!!

Russ