Went south quick!

[Stringman]

I've been sittin on this rock for awhile waitin for the right moment to tackle it. After busting out a piece of raw burlington and turning it into a nice blade I felt like I had the right groove goin. So I grabbed it up and went to swingin. Flakes were fallin off and the preform was comin along nicely. I quit when it got late and took it inside to contemplate the next series of flakes and went to bed. This mornin, after the obligatory cup-a-joe, I went to swingin and fell back into the same feeling of confidense. Everything was not quite right, however, and disaster stuck.... Moral to follow.   

[Stringman]

#1 If you got your groove on, ignore the less important things in life (like sleep) and finish that point!

#2 Never, and I repeat, NEVER percuss from the end of a 10" blade!!
 

I'm done for the day now...

[Bevan R.]

Ouch!  That looked like it was bound to be a beauty.

[chertle]

I know that I have read on this site several times that it is just rock until you make it into a point.....that being said....I don't think it makes it any easier.  Too bad for your point but I am sure from what I have seen you post before that you will have several more great looking points.

[Stringman]

This is the raw piece that I worked on first.

[Mesquite]

Sucks when they break but a broken blade is at least a point and either a smaller blade or more points. 

That new one is coming along nicely and has a cool pattern on it.

[iowabow]

Flint that size is hard to find.  Sorry to see that happen.  I bet you know where more of that stuff is however.

[Tower]

Oohhh man! I hate it when that happens. Looks like you were doing great too. When I percussion a large blade on the end I put a lot of inward pressure into the blade. I put the tip or base in my thigh & push in. It helps me , maybe it can help.

[cowboy]

Gotta hate when that happens . I usually get three broken in a row before i put it all down, get up and walk away disgusted . If your not in the zone then your just not going to make it happen not matter how hard ya try..

[Stringman]

When I percussion a large blade on the end I put a lot of inward pressure into the blade. I put the tip or base in my thigh & push in. It helps me , maybe it can help.

I gave that a try and see what ur gettin at. I still hold that basal perccusion is a real bad idea, but maybe that tip will be just enough to help me out.

[iowabow]

I like this thread because I have changed my approach a little lately.  I try not to bring the point to a point and if I need to I brake to keep it rounded.  I have also been setting up a flute and taking a flake from the base when the point is almost finished.  I do as stated above but I use one very important piece of advice from a very good knapper.  "Squeeze the sides so that you don't put downward pressure on the point" a tip I learned from stringman.  Your a very good knapper and those large points I saw in your case prove it.  I think the stone looks a little inconsistent and it had a few steps.  This caused the stone to do weird stuff when you hit the base IMO. 

[iowabow]

Here is an artifact preform showing their reductive thinking.  Here he shaped the point to handle the shock wave with a slight curve to base. The base was 45 on the platform and was flat at the base.   The basecame after flake from the side.  The right flake from the base over flaked the right side flake scar.  I am sure the thinking was then to take another side set of flakes because a platform was set up to do so.    It looks like they could do the base thinning during this phase.  I think they were doing it before the final thinning flakes.