These pics are of some rocks the previous rock-hound owner of the house we are in had in spots around the yard. A lot of this is knappable, and it is all raw stone varying from dang tough to crazy ridiculous tough. I’m also going to post pics of some points I’ve been able to beat out of some of it. I’ve really just started into knapping, and it has been the steepest, longest learning curve I’ve ever encountered in all my 52 years. I’m also hooked and determined to keep getting better.
Anyhoo...I have purchased some obsidian, keokuk, dacite, and Georgetown spalls. The Georgetown is from Ryan Gill and seems to be a great compromise between the stupidly east to chatter, overshoot, step, and hinge high grade rocks I’ve purchased and the super tough raw rock from my yard. Between the Obs/Keo/Dacite and the yard rocks, I’m doing better with the yard rocks. I have been trying to watch everything JCrafty snd Freezecracked and Flintknappingtips are putting out there, and by using some JCrafty inspired aluminum indirect punches and beating the yard rocks with extreme aggression, I can produce non-steppy, still-not-thin-enough points.
I’m thinking that I need to haul my rock up in the hills for a couple of days and nights of distraction-free solitude...slow waaay down and get my head really into it...and work at it. But I digress.
Should I heat treat this yard stuff or keep trying to improve while keeping it raw and tough? If you recommend heat treating, what’s the rock ID guesses and what temps do y’all suggest.
I know it’s a bunch of ugly little chunks...but I want to see what I can do with all of it.
So... here are the rock pics....