Is it me or?

[keekeerun]

Is it me or is noviculite flint hard to knapp, I just spent 7 hours percussion and pressure flaking the stuff. I did end up with 4 points, 2 were decent One of them I would not be afraid to hunt with, but man I had trouble thinning them with my antler billet. I made platforms and hit, made more platforms and smacked again. I seem to thin it out eventually but buy the time I got it thin enough to pressure flake the point seems to small. Any advice is appreciated thanks.

[Hillbilly]

Is it heated? Raw novaculite is tough as hell, heated knaps really well. The stuff you're describing sounds like part of the normal learning curve. Those of us who've been knapping for years still sometimes do that more often than we would like.

[keekeerun]

Hillbilly yes is is heat treated. Well that makes me feel better, I knapped 7 hours straight, sore fingers, 2 cuts, left arm feels like it was run over buy a truck , but I sure had fun. I used a homemade flaker, I took #4 copper wire and put it in a piece of dowel rod. I have'nt tried a deer antler for flaking yet, how do they work. I seem to dull my copper flaker pretty easy.

[david w.]

i never used antler but antler will dull faster

at least that what i hear eveyone say

[carpenter374]

im new to knapping too. i seem to do well with a 10 penny nail driven into a dowel. i like it better than an antler flaker.

[Hillbilly]

Antler works well, but it does dull quick, and you have to set up the platforms a little differently. I never could do much with a steel nail, it doesn't grab the platform like copper or antler. I like soft horseshoe nails for notching sometimes.

[keekeerun]

 I might try a 10 penny nail.  I'm gonna try an antler today, if it dulls I'll just cut off another tine and have at er.  Hillbilly how sharp or semi blunt do you like your antler flakers,  and when you say setting up the platforms different for the antler, would they have to be bigger platforms because of the bigger diameter of the antler.       THANKS GUYS.

[Hillbilly]

I don't sharpen them really sharp-kind or rounded crayon-ish. Hitting it a few licks with a file after every few flakes will keep it in good shape. I usually set up platforms that are a little weaker and sharper for antler than with copper. Isolating them a bit helps, too. I tend to use antler more for tougher materials like rhyolite and quartzite-it grabs better than copper.

[keekeerun]

Thanks I'll try it out today, I'll let you know how I did.    I' got to get set up for showing pictures