Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Flintknapping => Topic started by: gstoneberg on December 24, 2011, 01:15:26 pm
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While waiting for some wood to warm up in the house this morning so I could laminate a bow, I decided to do some knapping. It struck me that I normally don't make bifaces. I pick the point I want to make and go for that shape from the start. So, for a change, I tried just to make a biface. It worked out well, I can see why you're supposed to do it this way.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7005/6564397103_1ab187bacd_z.jpg)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7031/6564397439_48f6c224be_z.jpg)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7019/6564397801_1e304af8b3_z.jpg)
This was a spall that was real fat on one end and somewhat fat on the other but thinner in the middle. It had some curve too, but not too bad. It would have been about a half inch longer but I wanted to take just 1 more thinning flake on the end.... ::) Now that I have this I'm not sure what point to make with it. Lots of possibilities. :)
George
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Good looking stone, nice preform. Thin it down & corner notch it.
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You would say corner notches.... OK, but you know I still need that notching lesson real bad. :-[
George
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Just make a triangle. No notches. Traingular forms were common in Texas: Kinney, Early Triangular, Tortugas and others. :)
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How would you haft an un-notched point on the shaft? Wrap right over the edge, or just use pitch glue?
George
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Pitch only. Wrap the shaft below the blade, not on the blade itself. Asphaltum (similar to roofing tar) works better than pitch for this.
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That looks real good George! I'd probably just try to make it the best point I could if I were you. Triangle, side notch, corner notch... What ever your most comfortable with, just a lil bigger than usual :) :) :)
Merry Christmas!
~Will
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Nice job George. Pretty rock there.. Just make the best point you can a d send it my way 8)
Cipriano
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Thanks guys and Merry Christmas! I actually wondered if this was an obsidian spall when I picked it up it was so dark. After the first flake I knew it wasn't, but still cool colored rock for sure. With Christmas festivities I've had trouble getting back to the biface. Might have some time before I head to church this morning. What a wonderful day!
George
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Looks good so far George. Call it a ho ho ho :D.
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Good idea Paul. I got a few minutes to work on it this morning before the church festivities began. I got it thinner, one side is really flat and the other has nice convexity. I prepared the flat side so I could pressure flake some convexity into it before I took pictures. I think I'll do all the remaining work with pressure. I got 1 real long pressure flake when I didn't expect it, thinning at the point end. It's almost a narrow flute, really surprised me. Wish I knew what I did.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7148/6569443329_f1cb7c0298_z.jpg)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7143/6569442811_c46b01987d_z.jpg)
After lunch I'll get after it again. Hope you're all having a great Christmas day!
George
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I had a wonderful time pressure flaking. Finally began to get flakes to run with pressure. I wasn't pushing hard enough. Who knew pressure flaking was going to be this tiring? Anyway, things were going great until I got to the corner notches. Even there, it started great and I had the thinnest notch going I'd ever made. The other one wasn't quite so good. I did a flake on that one and pow, the corner was gone. Just like always. >:( But I figured I'd go ahead and finish the other nice notch so I could take a picture of doing at least 1 decent notch. The next flake, pow - the other corner went. I thought I might as well document my epic fail...then I noticed something was wrong with the side of the point as well. Check it out...
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7172/6570851275_8a3b1512a5_z.jpg)
Somehow the edge of the point was snapped off. I couldn't figure out how I might have had pressure on that spot but then I flipped it over and...
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7151/6570852059_425232ef7c_z.jpg)
It's an overshoot. I must've had the notch still above centerline so when the flake came off the back it was huge, ruining the notch, then it did a 90 degree turn to run off the side and take off the edge. Good grief. Looks like this point will end up in sort of a pine tree shape. I'll bet I'm doing that with every notch and the flake gets so large it knocks off the corner. Doh...
George
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Here's the finished point. It's a poor man's pine tree. Stalled both notches so I quit while I was ahead.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7152/6571164173_fc552a1c44_z.jpg)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7163/6571189871_c16f8be6de_z.jpg)
It weighs in at 108 grains.
George
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I like that Christmas tree.
Cipriano
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Not sure we can call that one a real Christmas tree, but it was the best I could do with what I had left and my limited skill. I was so disgusted with my failed corner notches that I made another point to try it again. I still stink, but this one is a good weight for hunting, 125 grains.
George
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7145/6572945035_e863e4ca99_z.jpg)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7008/6572945611_f45c76c676_z.jpg)
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It's fun watching your progress, George. Nice comeback with that second point! :) Overshots are very unpredictable with that heat treated stuff but once you're good enough to use overshots to your advantage it will be a whole different ball game!
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Those points turned out just fine George! You'll be amazed at how thin you can get a blocky point with pressure. Make a nice continuous platform down one side, aim your copper straight down each ridge, load it up with really good pressure then "pop". You can run em side to side with practice.
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Thanks guys. I am doing almost all my platform preparation with pressure now, then using indirect percussion if I need to pop large/long flakes, pressure if I don't. However, my progress seems pitifully slow Patrick. About the time I feel like I'm improving, running nice consistent flakes, I'll step about 3 straight and put an island where I can't get it out without losing a bunch of width. Then, I'll pop a flake that makes the center of the piece way thinner than both ends. Drives me crazy, especially when I goof up around the base where I know if it isn't thin my notches are going to stall.
Paul, my arms are aching from pressure flaking. Today I plan to make an Ishi stick. There has to be an easier way to get that much force on the spall. It'll help when I get used to it. It really helped when I made a rubber pad that is small enough to hold comfortably in my hand. The flakes come off so hard that they stick in the pad a lot. I do hope I learn how to control how far the flakes travel at some point. I really hope I learn to do notches. I have some friends to hog hunt with down near Houston. This spring I'm gonna beg Mr. Tower for a notching lesson...unless I can get one from you first. How are you feeling by the way?
George
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I went out last night and chipped a little more. Found a real pretty and real thin spall to work on. I thought I had it ready to notch, though looking at the pictures now I see my symmetry is off at the base. I'll fix that and then notch it. Gonna go look at some pictures and get some ideas about the best way to do that. This is a very thin point, not because of skill but because the spall was so thin. I like it though.
George
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7152/6581154757_9807031b11_z.jpg)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7033/6581155297_3eba97e8c1_z.jpg)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7035/6581155809_1207d8beb4_z.jpg)
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That's a cool band running through it.
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George, I make step and hinges all the time. The trick is getting good at removing them! ;)
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Nice stuff George, the one with banding looks like a "mini" Megalodon tooth >:D
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Yea, that spall had a real cool set of color bands. I've tried one other that was like that but it didn't turn out as well.
Patrick... :) :)
It does Lee. Hate to meet a critter with teeth like that.
How technology has changed, I'm 12ft up in a tower blind reading the forum on my phone while waiting for pigs to show. When I started hunting 40 years ago I never could have conceived where we'd be today. I never would have thought I'd be making stone points either.
George
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that rock is nice !!
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Where did you get that rock George and did you cook it?
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All the points I've made have been with rock Patrick sent home with me after our first Texas get-together. It was heated. I've since picked up some rock at the lease and Cipriano has brought quite a bit over as well. The raw stone is pretty tough, beyond my ability so far. Ricky came over one day and made a beautiful point from the raw chert. I was impressed. I'm hoping I can get a used roaster cheap now that the holidays are over. Then I'll heat some of the rock I have.
George
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I'm looking to pick up a Roaster as well George...might do a big pit fire tomorrow though to get me by until then.
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That is some good looking rock there George. Guess it's either a Gtown variety or the heat really slicked it up. Makes me wanna knap but this shoulder thingy really sucks. Been down three weeks last Friday and still hurts:(. Don't see me Ishi'ing any time soon..
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Time to haft it up & get out to make some meat with that thing now, right?
If nothing else there`s bunnies everywhere that need the herd thinned down.
I`ve found worse looking points in the cornfields around here that (I`d assume)
were used even tho they weren`t the prettiest looking things ya could use... :laugh:
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Thanks guys. I decided to take a spall too narrow to make a point from and practice notching. I promptly broke it in half. My first 2 notches were excellent. What is it about notching something that doesn't matter to make it all work out??
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7141/6622672549_d9d30663c8_z.jpg)
So, I finally sucked it up and corner notched the big point. As usual, I stalled a notch before I got them as long as I wanted. Still, better than usual.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7028/6622712849_99398a7ff1_z.jpg)
Thin enough to see a little bit of light through it.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7034/6622674189_54e05d099f_z.jpg)
That's my favorite point so far. Life is good.
George
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Sweeet. :)
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george i bet if you took just a hair off the basel side of the notch on the right, it's just a tad narrower than the other, that you'll be able to get unstalled, nice point buy the way ;D, Bub
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Bub, that thin notch isn't the one that stalled. The one on the left in the picture is the culprit. I need to stay more alert when I'm notching. I was revelling in how long and narrow that other one was when suddenly I got nothing on the other one. It wasn't quite as narrow as the other one and opened up at the base as I kept trying to get a flake. I think I could have widened it a little and unstalled it, but decided to let it be and go with that. I'll eventually get it right. Thanks for the help.
George
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that's cool George, that side just didn't look as deep, musta been the blind guy on this end :laugh:
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Bub,
I'll take any and all help so it's no problem at all. What baffles me on this stuff is that a couple weeks ago I couldn't get my points thin enough. Now, I'm having trouble getting them to stay over 100grains. I used to have to hold my points at quite an angle to drive a flake any distance. Now I'm holding the point almost flat and occasionally overshoot. If I put any angle in I get horrible steps. I don't know what changed, it's the dangdest thing ever. I'm still not good at pressure flaking. I may grab my bucket of rocks and show up on Cowboy's doorstep one of these days...see if I can con him into helping a desperate old man. ;) I think it would help my notching if I'd get a little better at pressure flaking.
Anyway please, advice and criticism are most welcome.
George
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Looks like a mighty fine point George. Practice makes perfect, that's what I keep telling myself with my slow learning curve ;)
Tracy
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George i still mostly pressure flake slabs, if you've got any of the stuff i sent you work them for awhile, i use a 1/4" copper and try and get at-lest half way across all the way around then use 1/8" copper to work my way to the center on the edge, of coarse i thought i was doing good till i saw that Sawfiler has only been at it since '09 :'(, hell i wish i could do better at percussion, just gotta practice more, Bub
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That looks great george! your really getting the hang of that notching thing! :D Good job fella!
~Will