got some basalt

[Ryan_Gill_HuntPrimitive]

i was out hunting yesterday up in a remote area and i found a whole hillside covered in basalt.  lots of pieces there that have been worked by primitive man aswell. i didnt find any points but i found a cool hand axe next to a spring that comes right out of the rock and various pieces that they knocked flakes off of....so anyways the point is...i have basalt.  i worked  abit of it and it flakes pretty darn good...its gonna take some getting used to but it does work.  question is, does heat treating it help any or is it a waste of time>?

[Jaeger]

your just like an Indian drop you anywhere and you look for game and lithics first thing and  check out the local bow wood , GOOD JOB!

[Ryan_Gill_HuntPrimitive]

i try to be, i have already discovered vine maple, lots of chockecherry, hawthorn and russian olive......so i should be on tope of the bow staves soon enough...problem is out here they are all sapling staves...nothing big enough to really split, which is sad cuz i really enjoys splitting up a big hickory or elm log.
     Another note, the basalt isnt overly hard...not as hard as un-treated texas chert.  but it does step frature a bit..its kinda acts like knapping toilet porcelain, probably wont make very nice small points but i bet it will make great axes and spear points!

[billy]

Hey Ryan,

I don't think basalt will heat treat.  I've never tried it, but since it's a volcanic stone and not sedimentary, I don't think it will heat alter.  It's like trying to heat treat obsidian....

[stickbender]

     Well, let's see some axes, and spear points.....
Have you gotten your hunting area lined up for next year?

                                            Wayne

[Hillbilly]

Like Billy said, basalt won't heat treat-it's already been heat treated in a volcano. Some of it knaps pretty good-the better grades make good hunting points, really tough stuff.

[Sparrow]

Dense,high grade basalt makes good points,some of it gets almost as glassy as obsidian.I knock off a flake and see if it shaves hair off my arm,if so,it's good to go.  '  Frank