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How to begin knapping? (Read 21080 times)
Indiana
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How to begin knapping?
Feb 20th, 2009 at 2:29pm
 
I have always had an interest in this and now after seeing a survivalist documentary i want to find out how do you learn to knap - if anyone has any information on this it will be most appreciated.
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Steven
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Re: How to begin knapping?
Reply #1 - Feb 20th, 2009 at 3:19pm
 
Start here.... cheap easy material to use. http://www.cavemanchemistry.com/oldcave/projects/stone/bottle.html
the beginning knappers steps are here.

P.S. Be safe; wear safety glasses, wear gloves and buy band-aids ; you'll need them.
When playing with glass or stone I haven't ... not cut myself; nothing serious but
some needed a band-aid.

P.S. start with the biggest bottle you can get a flat bottom from ....
the end product is about 1/5th the size of your raw material  ...
glass, stone, thunder chert ....etc
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Indiana
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Re: How to begin knapping?
Reply #2 - Feb 20th, 2009 at 4:48pm
 
Thanks, this looks surprisingly complex -not unduly- and slightly dangerous; i will have to think more about taking this up as a hobby.

P.S Living by a rocky beach would it not be easier for me to use some sort of rock as the basis for my fledgling steps.
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Steven
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Re: How to begin knapping?
Reply #3 - Feb 20th, 2009 at 6:43pm
 
Indiana wrote on Feb 20th, 2009 at 4:48pm:
... Living by a rocky beach would it not be easier for me to use some sort of rock as the basis for my fledgling steps.


Depends on the part of the country you are in and what type rock is prevalent on your beach.
You will need one of the knappable lithics... flint, chert, obsidian ... etc.
http://www.thudscave.com/petroglyphs/knappable.htm  Shocked a generic beach stone will probably
not work. Specific kinds of stone are needed for knapping.  Undecided

P.S. I forgot two artificial rock names ....thunder-chert and john-stone
( they both refer to broken toilet tank and lid), and don't forget the T.V. tube ...
thick glass on front .... be careful breaking as there is a vacuum inside
(score and snap the tip of the neck off and then break the rest)
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Indiana
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Re: How to begin knapping?
Reply #4 - Feb 20th, 2009 at 7:03pm
 
I had a look at the list, very informative; i know i have at-least flint/chert on my beach not sure about the others i didn't know enough about rocks to tell what they were last time i was at the beach. So I think i will try flint, it seems more authentic, cheaper and more easily available.
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Steven
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Re: How to begin knapping?
Reply #5 - Feb 20th, 2009 at 7:10pm
 
look at the knapping sites as the workability of the rock can sometimes be improved by cooking  Wink
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Indiana
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Re: How to begin knapping?
Reply #6 - Feb 20th, 2009 at 7:18pm
 
Interesting, i guess it gets rid of excess water content potentially increasing crystallinity hmmm anyway i will stop hypothesizing on the effects of this interesting technique and have a look at this website more thoroughly, anyway thanks again for all this useful information and websites.
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David Morningstar
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Re: How to begin knapping?
Reply #7 - Feb 21st, 2009 at 3:51am
 
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Jae
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Re: How to begin knapping?
Reply #8 - Feb 21st, 2009 at 9:10am
 
There are literally hundreds of webpages out there these days.  Just type in 'flintknapping' into google and you can surf for days.  The best book ever written on the subject is the one David suggested.

If you have flint, good on you, but start small then when you have a handle on the small stuff then make bigger stuff if you want.  I have found that people who want to flintknap start making big stuff which is pretty hard to do for a beginner, get frustrated, and quit.

The ultimate resource for learning how to flintknap is to watch someone doing it.  I bet with a bit of searching you can find someone who can show you the basics.

Jae
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Indiana
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Re: How to begin knapping?
Reply #9 - Feb 21st, 2009 at 9:39am
 
Well i have been down to the beach for my first slinging of spring and gather myself a backpack full of knappable rock so i will but some of this information to use.
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p8ntballa100
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Re: How to begin knapping?
Reply #10 - Feb 25th, 2009 at 11:28pm
 
Its easy! First what you do is say does this rag smell like chloroform.  Then ooooo as in rocks...  Shocked
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Re: How to begin knapping?
Reply #11 - Mar 5th, 2009 at 12:45pm
 
Oops! I didn't see this thread before I made my own new one. Embarrassed
I'm a n00b.
I posted a link to an article that's like the basics of stone knapping.
http://blogs.sciencemag.org/origins/2009/03/stone-tool-making-101-the-mind.html
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Rat Man
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Re: How to begin knapping?
Reply #12 - Mar 21st, 2009 at 1:30pm
 
Looking at this page that you posted here, Bjärn, it doesn't take a big leap of the imagination to see how the hand ax evolved into the clovis point.  With a good bit of thinning and refining, plus a channel for the shaft, you're there.
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Re: How to begin knapping?
Reply #13 - Mar 23rd, 2009 at 7:52pm
 
heres an easy way of finding knappable rocks, if they flake under a screw driver, WITHOUT breaking the entire thing, its knappable
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Re: How to begin knapping?
Reply #14 - Mar 26th, 2009 at 4:49pm
 
Can anyone confirm is this is chert?
I often find these in blue or deep red tones. The beige rock is the most common type of limestone on the hils near my place. I´ve been training knapping with some glass and I´m geting good at it. Also, when you say you heat the rocks, does it mean you have to work while it is warm? Or by heating it once, it becomes softer forever?

Thanks for any imput
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