Knapping, because I don't have enough hobbies.

[Jason Fry]

11 completed so far. That big one is a bit rough. I got excited about a good piece of rock and got ahead of my skills. I stopped before I ruined it. Will come back to it later.



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[Hawkpuppy 1]

Makes me want to give it a try. No shortage of flint/chert around here....

[stinkbelly]

I have tried and made a really cool blue one on my first try and then I made a bunch of really small rocks after that.

[bassmatt72]

Hey Jason.... made any more points? You inspired me to get my stuff out and bust some rock! Took me all day but I finally got a decent point made! Broke a couple and just plain messed a bunch up!
Central Texas chert, heat treated in a turkey roaster, Copper bobbers and copper pressure flaker. 1 1/2" X 3"

[Jason Fry]

Nice one, Matt. I've been chipping away on my lunch breaks. Up to about 23 points so far. Getting a bit better in some ways, but still ending up with thicker finished pieces than I'd like, and a few steps I can't get rid of. I've been working with Keokuk, dacite, glass, and some local raw chert. So far I can say that glass is easy, dacite is almost too fragile for my technique level, and the local un-heat treated stuff is tough. I'll shoot another picture of a few at lunch today. Yesterday I made my biggest point so far, about 3" long.

[hunt247]

I did not even know that you heat treat flint. I had to look it up.

http://www.flintknappingtools.com/heattreating_temps.html

[Jason Fry]

Local raw chert and two from Dacite. Have a couple of pieces of raw chert from my buddy's ranch at Llano to work next.



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[Texastaxi]

I see a knapped knife happening, before it's over with!

[Flint knapper]

Looking good so far!
You might check on the web and see if there is any knap inns going on this spring or summer!
A lot of flint knappers get together and break rock and exchange ideas and rock!

[Jason Fry]

I see a knapped knife happening, before it's over with!

Indeed. That's one of the things that started this whole misadventure.

[bassmatt72]

I've never worked Dacite or Keokuk, I may have a few flakes of Keokuk in a box somewhere? Most of what I've worked has been glass, Obsidian, and local chert. My Gatesville deer lease has three or four different qualities of chert on it, and my Junction lease has another totally different chert on it. I currently have access to more chert than I'll ever knapp! Just found this bunch last week.

[bassmatt72]

...but still ending up with thicker finished pieces than I'd like, and a few steps I can't get rid of....

So far for me getting them thin is the toughest thing to do. I've gotten a lot better setting up the platforms which really help getting under those step fractures.
Another guy on youtube is Freeze Cracked, a little goofy sometimes but lots of info!

Your points are looking really good. Practice, practice, practice!!!

[bassmatt72]

Any updates Jason??? I broke everything I tried today, made lots of gravel!

[Jason Fry]

I've done another three or four since my last pic, but nothing interesting. I've been working on a big pile of rocks. My buddy brought me some cobbles from the Concho river, and I found a bunch in the dirt on my county road, all at least fist sized. One thing I've discovered is that every rock is different, even among rocks that look the same. I've found a few that work nicely, and quite a bunch that are really tough to break. I've got a stack of the better flakes going and may try and heat treat a few of the tougher variety. Or, I may throw all that junk away and just work with the good rocks

[150class]

Every time I see this thread it initially reads "Kidnapping, because I don't have enough hobbies" lol

Every freaking time!