Good news bad news

[Muskyman]

I’m a little lost when it comes to putting pressure on the rock I’m working on, well a lot lost really. I’m hoping to get some more rock soon. Obsidian and Georgetown probably. I’ll have to experiment with pressure when I get some more. Been trying to find a way to fix some of my turtles I’ve made. Also just trying to see what results I can get from the indirect percussion and building platforms. Just whacking around on the junk I made out of the first rock I got. Just been playing with what I have and trying to learn what I can from what I have.
Got to admit it’s much tougher than I thought it would be. I’ll get there. I’ve had some really great offers from people on here who are willing to help me out. That’s what I love about this site, the people on here and their willingness to share.

[Allyn T]

Honestly it's hard to tell in the pictures. I was wondering if maybe it was a finger placement thing, such as were you pushing down on top of the piece to hold it still or were your fingers on the back edge.

[Parnell]

That’s good MM.  I think if I had to design a flint knapping course I’d have people learn pressure first.  Load pressure in and then use your thighs as the vice to peel down.

You’ll get it.  Hope you can find a way to sit down with someone in person, that made a big difference for me.  Then just time and lots of broken rock!

[Muskyman]

I have some obsidian coming. Also going to get a little more Georgetown soon. Going to try and work on the pressure thing some to see how things react to how I’m holding the piece. Been watching freeze cracked videos and he does explain more about how he’s holding the piece and where he’s putting pressure. Hopefully this will help some as I could use win or at least some light at the end of the tunnel. I’ll keep going till I can get a point of some kind. Not discouraged at all, looking forward to trying again.

[Allyn T]

Succeeding in flintknapping is a great feeling.  You'll find your goals expanding as you progress and expect more from yourself as you continue to improve

[Muskyman]

I was thinking about this point MM and considering where centerline is and the platform placement.
If the flake had line 2 wanting to be the acting center while you are working to bring it to 1?  Also, if perhaps you were applying the pressure directly into the ridge on the underside or right side in this picture of that point.  I’ve found better results peeling flakes angular into ridges instead of attacking straight in.

In other words, if pressure was applied “above or left” of line two directly inwards resulting the break.

Maybe others will give thoughts.  Like to hear what you think.

Parnell
I was looking at this thread again and being slow on the uptake,  just did realize that the picture in your post was of the arrowhead that I had broken. Not really sure which line was my center line to be honest. That was a flake I found in my debitage and I was trying to get a point out of it. No clue what happened other than what was the closest I’ve been to a point turned into two piece's

[Parnell]

Gotcha.  Be fun to see your next efforts. 

Consider the idea of trimming your pieces to get a working uniform centerline early.  If flaking right of center the platform should be prepped on that right side and vice versa, close to center.  Backtrim if needed…that is consider trimming directly down or perpendicular from the side you wish to remove, flip the piece, then abrade and pop the flake.

It’s always so tricky to explain in words…hope this kinda helps!

[Muskyman]

I’m thinking of posting more pictures when I get started back to working my new stuff. I’ve been watching videos like crazy here to the point my wife is making fun of me. It’s really hard to see what they are seeing because they work so fast. Even when they are trying to explain what they are doing it’s hard to see. I’m sure a little one on one would benefit me greatly. That’s probably not going to happen most likely so I’ll just keep going and see how I progress. I’ve started trying to pay more attention to how people are holding the piece they’re working on lately. Step fractures are probably my biggest issue. I’m thinking not driving my flakes across the piece is next after that. That’s probably why I keep making my aquarium turtles.  I think that is mostly from not having a good platform to hit. I’ll make it eventually.

[Allyn T]

Flintknappingtips on YouTube has a couple videos where he goes slow and talks about platforms and how he sets them up

[Muskyman]

I’ll check it out, thanks Allyn

[Parnell]

Running flakes across happens more effectively when the preform becomes uniform in cross section, I’ve found.  You’ll get it.

[Muskyman]

My wife and I were talking and I was telling her that the guys that I watch in the knapping videos go to fast and I can’t really see exactly what they are doing. She asked me if I had the videos slowed down and I just looked at her and said no, can you do that? She laughed till I felt even dumber than I already did to start with. She just said yup, let me see your iPad and I’ll show you how. Needless to say I’m not what you might call tech savvy, been a tradesman my entire career. I built stuff, and I’m good at it, but don’t hand me a iPhone or iPad and expect much. Anyway my point is that this little bit of info helped me a ton. Showed me more about what I was doing wrong in just a little while then I realized it would. Once I get going again I think it’s going to help.