Edited
by Zack, Brett, Flickety, Shayes and 6 others
A
flintknapper is an individual who shapes stone through the process of knapping
or striking with another object (lithic reduction). A common skill until the
discovery of smelting, the human race relied on this technique to create tools
and weapons for many years. In this wikiHow we'll show you how to do it.
1. 1
Select the proper stone
for shaping.
Flint, chert, and other similar rocks can be knapped, as well as basalt,
obsidian, lab manufactured quartz, toilet bowls, and some other minerals which
have a smooth surface left after a fracture. Obsidian is very soft, and is
easiest for the beginner to learn on as strength is developed. Also, cullet
glass from glass factories can sometimes produce wonderful pieces of art. All
are easily gotten on eBay.
2
Select a stone that has
few, if any, large cracks, fissures, bubbles, noticeable inclusions or other
irregularities which would likely cause it to break or flake off in ways
contrary to the shape you are trying to achieve.
2. 3
Pick a stone large enough
that you can recover from a mistake without losing the entire effort of your
project, but small enough to easily create what you have in mind. *Incidentally, you may
also wish to heat treat (cooking some quartzes, flints, fossil woods or fossil
corals for many hours under the bed of a fire will change them from grainy to
glassy) or water treat your stone (some stones, particularly opals, must remain
submerged or can crack as they dry), both techniques used successfully by
experienced knappers. With heat treating, bury your stones under two inches of
dirt, then maintain a very thick bed of coals for at least four hours if
heating flint pre-forms, more or less time is needed depending on the density
of substance. Remove the fire or let it die down. Allow the stones to cool
overnight before uncovering them, or they will explode on contact with cool
air. Turn them over, then repeat the cycle until the stone turns glossy when
you chip it. This takes lots of experimentation to master, more than the flint
knapping itself, and gets expensive if you have to buy your stone. This method
was originally used by those who needed the stone for survival, and quality was
not only desirable, but made the difference in tracking times of animals due to
duller or sharper weapons, which graininess affects, ease of manufacture of
tools, fewer failures in manufacture etc. If you want to do it, great, but
there are many materials available nowadays where it can be avoided*
3. 4
Sit comfortably. You can knapp on a
table or bench, of course, but traditionally knapping is done sitting
cross-legged, with the stone in one hand in one's lap. This method can be
difficult for beginners. Experiment to find out which sitting position gives
you the most control, especially with pressure flaking. I prefer to sit on a
log. You may choose to use a board or large stone for a rest for your workpiece
if you are beginning with a large, heavy stone.
4. 5
Some stones, such as
flint, chert, and fossilized organics, will have a directional grain from
either volcanic formation, or the natural striations of the now fossilized
organic material i.e. wood. Give attention to these important features of
the stone. During the process of breaking the stone to your will, give
attention to the direction of these natural features. Some flints and most
glasses will not have these. Agates and malachites will tend to. It is those
stones which are internally featureless that are best for beginners, because
you will not be restricted by direction in your stone, and may freely form it
as you please, within reason.
5. 6
Begin with direct
percussion.
Direct percussion is accomplished by taking a round, resilient material and
directly striking the stone which is to be made into a bifaced object to remove
material in the shape of long, sharp flakes. A fist-sized round stone from a
creek or a billet made from a large, solid-centered antler( preferably moose.
Elkhorn is hollow and second-rate) will work very well. With this technique it
is more difficult to learn control than with finishing techniques such as
pressure flaking. With stones that are irregular in shape or are larger than a
couple of ounces, you will need to begin the reduction process with direct
percussion. To make smaller to medium-sized arrowheads, simply take a large
flake from a percussion project, dress and abrade the edge(see 7 below), and go
directly to pressure flaking(see 8 below). The purpose of direct percussion is
to thin the stone from the edges inward to achieve the required thickness to
form a bifacial blade. Strike the stone at between a fifty to sixty-degree
angle. Imagine that a blow straight down is ninety degrees, and a blow straight
sideways into the pre-form you are forming is zero degrees. Then you can work
out where sixty degrees is. Just hold a protractor upside down. This angle is
ideal for removing large quantities of material without causing your work to
either split, as with a more direct, inward angle closer to thirty degrees, or
for the striking edge (or platform) itself to crumble, as with an angle
striking closer to straight down.
6. 7
The most important
process in flint knapping is abrading the edge of your flint, glass etc. pre-form. EVERY TIME
you have struck off a series of flakes on an edge, it is compulsory that you
grind that edge down very dull again so that the stone can withstand the impact
of the next series of percussions, or the edge will collapse or the entire
piece of work will break apart. Again, this is THE MOST IMPORTANT feature of
flint knapping. It is accomplished by grinding the edge of your flint in a
sawing motion against another flattish sort of stone of slightly lesser
hardness. Old grinding wheels work well for this, or any smooth hunk of
limestone. This will make grooves in the rock or grinding wheel, a desirable
feature. The result is a dependable platform able to take the extreme rigors of
lithic engineering. If not done properly, you will never be successful at
reproducing anything more than stone bullets.
7. 8
After your pre-form is
reduced so that it is about seven or eight times wider than it is thick (for a
larger project), begin pressure flaking. Pressure flaking is
achieved by placing your work into a fold of thick leather. Hold this in your
hand, then place a pointed tool on the edge of the stone, and apply an inward
pressure to the tool, focusing energy toward the palm, not away from it as with
percussion, usually at a more severe angle of forty-five degrees. That's right!
You will be working in the opposite direction than with percussion, giving attention
to the face you can see when holding it. This pressure will remove a small,
thin flake from the stone. The slower and longer you apply pressure, the longer
your flakes will be. Longer flakes are desirable, as they continue to reduce
the thickness very well. Up to 90% of your work may be pressure flaking, and
only 10% percussion, so be patient and work with attention to detail. Do not
forget to continue abrading the edge after EVERY series of flakes. Do not make
2 flakes in the same place without abrading. The closer you get to the finished
product, the less heavily you will have to abrade, as you are working towards
the final product of a delicate, razor sharp edge and point. The pressure
flaker should be a half-inch by one foot wooden dowel, made of osage orange,
hickory, ash, oak, any strong and flexible wood, never pine, fir, poplar or any
softwood. It needs a sharpened copper nail set tightly in a hole in one end.
Steel, iron, brass, and bronze are too hard to grip the stone and do not work
for pressure flaking. They will crush your work rather than shape it. Aluminum
is too soft and brittle. The copper nail or wire should be no less than
3/16" in thickness sharpened to a dull point, and should stick out no more
than 1/2" as copper is soft and can bend too far to use if too long.
Traditionally, a pointy deer antler tine was used and works almost as well as
copper. You will have to sharpen the pressure flaker fairly often.
If you are worried about
tendinitis from pressure flaking(read warning), you may participate in the
indirect percussion method. The results are very different
aesthetically, but it can be more effective in reducing the thickness of your
biface. Again, place the pre-form in the folded leather, then place this
between your feet on the ground, or knees, but preferably between the feet on
the ground, for stability. Then use your pressure flaker like a nail punch on
the edge of the pre-form, and strike the butt of the pressure flaker with a
billet that you feel is heavy enough to work stone, but that you can
confidently control. Be careful with severity of the blow as you near the
completion of your project. It is a good idea to cut the pressure flaker you
use for percussion down to six inches. If you can, make it out of a solid piece
of 1/2 inch copper or antler. Taper the tip over a length of about 2 inches to
a fairly blunt but narrow point, one that focuses energy but doesn't pinpoint
it. This process takes more practice, and you will have more failures as you
learn it. But it works equally well as pressure flaking when mastered, if not
better, and will save your elbows potentially massive damage. Then you can
finish the face and edge with minimal pressure flaking.
8. 10
With every series of
flakes taken from an edge, alternate the face from which you remove material. If you struck or flaked
in one direction with one series of flakes, grind down the edge and turn the
pre-form over and remove material from the opposing face, same edge. Alternate
edges, also! Try not to work the same edge twice in a row, rather go from one
edge and back to the other so as to maintain consistency of material reduction.
However, you can, and will often find it necessary as you learn, to work the
same face from opposing sides in order to remove stacks of material caused by
poor angles of previously applied force or natural inclusions in the material.
9. 11
Repeat until you have
shaped your flint into the shape you wish. Make the final run of
pressure flakes and do not abrade. Leave the raw, sharp edge for use as a tool.
10.
12
You may put the finishing
touches on a point by notching the base or forming a stem at the base. This can be done by
pressure flaking the notches or the stem into the base of a finished tool, but
be sure to dull the base and notches so they don't cut the string you will use
for binding it to a handle or shaft. Leave the edges sharp, however! Or, you
can leave the plain base without altering by notches or a stem. Use an abrading
stone on the base to dull it so it may be placed and tied in a wooden shaft or
tool handle.
Here's a link to one beginners video on the subject: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxQ8fSGM7c0
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