A Classic experiment

[Stringman]

So after talking with a couple guys, an idea is forming and I thought I'd start a thread to see where the interest is. Don mentioned bringing some chert to heat treat at the classic this year. I said it would be tough to get it in and out of the ground in time to still be able to knap it. So....

Is anybody else interested in doing a community heat treat at Pappy's?

[Zuma]

Count me in, so long as I'm not in the OR or on a drip. 
Spring is a ways away. If time is of the essence and you want
 to heat the rocks abo style. Try do design a pizza style oven
so you can slip different type rocks into different temp compartments.
Most rock can be treated in 8-12 hours imo at temps of 500 degrees
or so. Incuding cool down.
Zuma

[Stringman]

Glad to have ya Zuma, I'm not sure about the details of the pit just yet. Will was gonna talk to Pappy and get clearance from the tower before we proceed. Also, he sorta volunteered to oversee the operation so I would hope we could come up with a way to do it without taking a ton of his time.

Otherwise, we need to see how many are wanting to be involved before deciding on a plan. If it works out, this might be good material to pass around the pit and create a shadow box of points for the raffle.

[Pat B]

Some folks are usually there the week before the Classic starts. That should give you plenty of time to set it all up and get some rocks cooked and cooled.

[Wolf Watcher]

Sounds like fun!  There are some musts for it to work.  Material should probably be in preforms, if you know which ones cook at a higher temp, they should be identified so pit placement can be determined.  We all can send our preforms with an identifying mark early to Will in "if it fits it ships" boxes.  My greatest FIND was an abandoned cooking pit left uncovered with my brother.  Some of the material in the pit changed colors when fired and I had always thought that material came from someplace else.  Joe

[Stringman]

Two good points:

With folks showing up a week before hand, the fire pit could be assembled on Monday and then left alone till, say Thursady and opened in front of the group.

All flakes or performs that are sent should be marked to show temp ranges required.

Pulling this off could be super cool with a dozen different cherts in the pit!

[iowabow]

we could use sand to control the temp of the different rock types

[iowabow]

a couple things to think about :
1. we need sand
2. we need a way to cover the pit after the firing in the event of rain this cover should have enough of a gap so that air can move into the pit.
3. if we decide on sand then we could indicate the depth we would like each piece to be placed this will control the temp each piece comes to generally.
4. As the chert arrives it could be sorted according to depth and layered in as the pit is built.
just a couple thoughts and count me in on the ordeal.
 

[Chippintuff]

Though I don't get to go to that event, it sounds like an enjoyable venture. It does not have to take a lot of time to fire treat. I have done it once, and took them out with bare hands 2 days later. The cook was perfect.

WA

[Zuma]

All great ideas.
One of my thoughts would be to have a large fire with three
sides stone or the like.
Have a piece of roofing metal on top of rows of bricks.
Making long narrow compartments or revetments.
Of course this requires metal (not so abo). Now with a continuous
large amount of coals on top of the roofing metal you could slip
 different cherts into different compartments
and rake coals to heat and rake them away to cool.
The preforms could be in baking pans or cookie sheets covered
in the amount of sand  thought to be required. From my experience
the crucial temps are the high ones 300-500 degrees.
Just a thought. Using smaller fire wood would help keep things more stable.
This way you could take some out and put more in. like a Pizza oven.
Wouldn't the ancients laugh.
Zuma

[iowabow]

Well if it is not ABO maybe a small kiln would be the trick. It could be placed in a covered area and it would only take 24 or so hours. Maybe something running on 110.

[Stringman]

Both true, but I think we should stick to the more traditional fire pit method. I don't have a problem with using tin to keep water off the pit, but the pizza oven sounds a little more complex than is necessary. (Zuma, if you do develop that concept I'd be interested in hearing your results. Personally, it sounds like your climb and descend rates might be too quick without some very tedious fire watching.)

So far we have:
Zuma
Iowabow
Stringman
Wolfwatcher (Joe)
Don Tower
Outbackbob
Patrick (jackcrafty)

-- interested in sending chert flakes to be heated. Let's see how many are in before we determine fire pit logistics. If the variety of chert is not too broad, we might not need much pit manipulation to get decent results.

[Wolf Watcher]

If Pappy agrees to this project, then a cover of some kind could be figured out.  Sand is OK if it or the dirt is dry otherwise a drying time is required.  I say go as much as possible ABO. I have a bunch of Texas Chert from the old days.  If it has iron or copper oxides it will turn colors when cooked.  I have found that digging up the cooked spalls is more fun for me than xmas!

[iowabow]

If Pappy agrees to this project, then a cover of some kind could be figured out.  Sand is OK if it or the dirt is dry otherwise a drying time is required.  I say go as much as possible ABO. I have a bunch of Texas Chert from the old days.  If it has iron or copper oxides it will turn colors when cooked.  I have found that digging up the cooked spalls is more fun for me than xmas!

Totally agree!

[Tower]

You know in all in. I'm planning on getting earlier than last year. I'll raise my hand for helping out. I could bring some Texas spalls.  I think a traditional fire pit for treating.  Local stone around here only needs 350-400*.