Help Rock I.D.??

[blackhawk]

Not that it really matters what this stuff is,as I think it will Knapp, and even be better if heat treated,but id like to know for curiosities sake. I live in western Pennsylvania just north of Pittsburgh. I've walked thru several streams in my area never finding anything that will flake. Until today when I was down at a park with the family I found this stuff that had been brought up from some intense flooding and record rainfall a couple weeks ago. It turned up massive piles of stone and destroyed some things as well.



Here's the small pile I gathered in one spot before we had to leave. Ill be going back for more if this stuff works.





Some of it was better than others,but this one pulled a nice flake with a hammerstone. I was squatting in a island pile of rocks in the creek hammerstoning a couple trying to make a head. A couple came up and asked how I got across,and never asked what I was doing,but they had the look on there face like,what the heck is he doing....lol.




My guess is its def volcanic in origin. And my guess is some form of rhyolite,maybe metamorphosed?

Thanks for looking and to anyone who can id it. ....Chris

[Tower]

Rough grade rhyolite? Just a guess.

[cowboy]

Not a clue but man that looks tough! Maybe Jamie will chime in..

[Lee Slikkers]

Hey Chris good luck with that stuff but I seriously doubt it will knapp very well...check this thread out of mine from earlier last month:

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,27888.0.html  99% sure it is the same stuff as I ran across.  It did not flake very well for me but maybe you will have better luck with it.  I even had a local knapper attempt to heat treat some to see if that helped but he claimed it did not help at all...I didn't try it after heated as he is 45 minutes north of me but I took him word for it.

[jamie]

looks like a decent grade of basalt. take the word decent with a grain of salt cause eastern basalt is tough stuff. yes it can be knapped but you need to beat it like a red headed step child. get yourself a nice hunk of dogwood (cornus florida) and make a baton from it. hold the block with your feet and swing from the heavens. you'll get some decent spalls. itll be 99% done with percussion and just tough up the edge with a little pressure flaking. heating it will ruin it. have fun 

[blackhawk]

Thanks for the help so far guys...I think jamie is right. Its tough for sure...I swung like hell with a big piece of sandstone to drive that flake. So it sounds like good stuff to work on when im really pissed off .....lol

Lee I think this is different than what you had. This came from Pa,not Mi.


Wood it be better to maybe and try to peck and grind this stuff? Or is it just to tough. I've never done that before and don't know exactly how its done. Or what if it was cut into really thin slabs,and then worked?

[mullet]

 If you cut it in slabs I think you would be better off making a sidewalk with it. It will be too hard to pressure flake and you will have to wail like hell on it to get flakes to travel on a slab without breaking it.

[jamie]

knap it to shape with the wood baton and then peck and grind. if you have a decent chunk of chert lying around use it for pecking, it works great.  this will be used to really shape the edge and remove any bumps. once you are happy with the shape find a nice piece of sandstone and start grinding and polishing. i think it was james parker who told me to use urine to get a really high shine to the finished piece. ive yet to try it.

[Lee Slikkers]

Hey Chris, can you or anyone here show some pics and such of the Peck & Grind process?  I have seen tons of knapping resources but now that I can thinking about it more I don't recall any such how-to on the P & G method.  Cool Stuff!

I know your rock isn't from MI but I would bet a good stave that if I sent you a piece of the stone I gathered and you mixed it up in your pile no one would be able to tell them apart or pick the one I sent you as being different 

[blackhawk]

Sounds like these pieces will sit in the corner for awhile till I have a real bad day and in need of some anger management...lol. 

Id like to see and know more about the peck and grind process as well....I hear it mentioned from time to time but never seen,nor heard it thoroughly explained. Maybe someone can take a few pics and explain it,preferably in a new thread so more folks will see it and learn from it as well. Soooo...anyone up for the task???
Should I start a new thread about it???

[jamie]

i'll try to get something up this weekend

[blackhawk]

Thanks jamie  ....you da man. Looking forward to it if ya can.