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 Re: Flint Knapping ?
[Re: Art]
#361627
08/09/09 01:51 PM
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 897
Momaw
Scrapper
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Scrapper
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 897 |
Momaw does it. Where is that guy? He has some great pics too. I don't knap flint, there's none locally and nobody who sells it within a convenient distance. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> You're thinking of my slate grinding.
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Re: Flint Knapping ?
[Re: Momaw]
#361628
08/09/09 04:32 PM
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 3,198
Art
Junk Yard Dog
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Junk Yard Dog
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 3,198 |
Ha ha! That's right. Weren't you going to look into obsidian as well? That copper one turned out really nice too.
JYD #66
Endure to the End
Long live the Brotherhood of the Yard
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Re: Flint Knapping ?
[Re: Art]
#361629
08/09/09 05:17 PM
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 215
ColtMan
OP
Mutt
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OP
Mutt
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 215 |
let's see if this photo posting thing works - thanks for the instructions Art. let's hope I am smart enough to put them to use ![[Linked Image from i685.photobucket.com]](http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv220/cart12man2003/Knappedknife001.jpg) I can't take credit for the handle as all I did was copy the handle design from the guy I took lessons from a few years ago.
AA is for quitters
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Re: Flint Knapping ?
[Re: ColtMan]
#361630
08/09/09 05:19 PM
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 215
ColtMan
OP
Mutt
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OP
Mutt
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 215 |
it worked ! more pics ![[Linked Image from i685.photobucket.com]](http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv220/cart12man2003/Knappedknife003.jpg) ![[Linked Image from i685.photobucket.com]](http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv220/cart12man2003/Knappedknife004.jpg)
AA is for quitters
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Re: Flint Knapping ?
[Re: ColtMan]
#361631
08/09/09 06:15 PM
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1,770
Recon422
Junk Yard Dog
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Junk Yard Dog
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1,770 |
Very cool. It totally looks like an antique.
JYD#99
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Re: Flint Knapping ?
[Re: Recon422]
#361632
08/09/09 06:41 PM
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 3,198
Art
Junk Yard Dog
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Junk Yard Dog
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 3,198 |
Wow. Very nice work. Does it come with color options?
That ivory looking blade looks good though.
How long does something like that take to make?
JYD #66
Endure to the End
Long live the Brotherhood of the Yard
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Re: Flint Knapping ?
[Re: Art]
#361633
08/09/09 07:10 PM
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 215
ColtMan
OP
Mutt
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OP
Mutt
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 215 |
Thanks Art. I live in Texas so it's Texas Hill Country flint stone which is pretty easy to find.
Knapping the general shape of the knife was relatively easy and took a couple of days. I made a pattern blade out of card board so I could compare it to the stone I was shaping. The detailed work like making the thickness of the knife as uniform as possible and then creating the edge of the blade took about a month. That's where it gets tough and where a flint knife typically breaks as the edge is made up of individual chips in the stone to make a serrated edge. This is the first knife I am happy with as all the other ones I have made up to this point have been pretty ugly.
I screwed up the handle though. The handle is the end of a Big Horn sheep horn and it was really weathered and about the same color as the stone so I stained the handle and binding to make the contrast look a little better between the handle and blade. Bad idea on my part as the stain is still sticky feeling 2-month later. Once I get the bug again I'll strip the stain and rebind it.
AA is for quitters
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Re: Flint Knapping ?
[Re: ColtMan]
#361634
08/09/09 08:18 PM
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 218
fireballxl5
Mutt
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Mutt
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 218 |
Hey Coltman,
That's really cool.
It looks pretty professional to my untutored eye.
Excluding the training and practice time, can you give us a rough idea how long that took to build?
I mean now that you know how to do it well how long would it take you to build another if you needed to?
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Re: Flint Knapping ?
[Re: fireballxl5]
#361635
08/09/09 08:34 PM
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 215
ColtMan
OP
Mutt
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OP
Mutt
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 215 |
hi fireball,
Like I mentioned above this is the first knife that I am happy with that looks pretty decent (to me anyways) and is functional. I have cut rope with it and even cooked meat and I didn't get the sense it would break. It was slow going, but it cut....
I practiced for close to 3 years and I know I went through a couple of tons of flint before I was able to produce this knife.
It took me a little over a month to complete the blade and then another couple weeks to fit the handle to the blade. I used Gorilla glue to help adhere the handle and blade so it is definitely not a period specific piece. The binding is just there to cover up the glue job.
If I went to make another one I would guess it would take me just as long to make. There is a fair amount of luck involved while knapping especially when creating the edge taking off small amounts of flint to produce the edge is tedious. Too much pressure on the stone and you'll chip off chunks too big and the blade will have uneven edges. Too little pressure on the stone while knapping and you just have to continue to work on that spot over & over...
AA is for quitters
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Re: Flint Knapping ?
[Re: ColtMan]
#361636
08/09/09 08:46 PM
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Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 1,250
DocSavage
Junk Yard Dog
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Junk Yard Dog
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 1,250 |
hi fireball,
Like I mentioned above this is the first knife that I am happy with that looks pretty decent (to me anyways) and is functional. I have cut rope with it and even cooked meat and I didn't get the sense it would break. It was slow going, but it cut....
I practiced for close to 3 years and I know I went through a couple of tons of flint before I was able to produce this knife.
It took me a little over a month to complete the blade and then another couple weeks to fit the handle to the blade. I used Gorilla glue to help adhere the handle and blade so it is definitely not a period specific piece. The binding is just there to cover up the glue job.
If I went to make another one I would guess it would take me just as long to make. There is a fair amount of luck involved while knapping especially when creating the edge taking off small amounts of flint to produce the edge is tedious. Too much pressure on the stone and you'll chip off chunks too big and the blade will have uneven edges. Too little pressure on the stone while knapping and you just have to continue to work on that spot over & over... for your level of expertise.. you have done a fine job... your flaking is pretty consistent and overall shape is very good...keep at it as long as your hands hold out... I have some friends (not close) that are very good at it... I, however, and a ham fisted klutz.. Doc
JYD #129
You should meet my JYD Brother of the Clock...
Sar5....
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Re: Flint Knapping ?
[Re: Toast]
#361637
08/09/09 08:51 PM
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Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 1,250
DocSavage
Junk Yard Dog
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Junk Yard Dog
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 1,250 |
It seems to be one of those skills that was crucial to our development as a species. My understanding is that a well crafted knife can be sharper then any metal blade. Ok, well, maybe not Horndog's... much sharper... the flake, as I understand it, is at the molecular level.... I heard from some guys that worked for me that were amateur palentolgists there was a surgeon somewhere that developed surgical tools he believed were sharper that any steel available... he could not get approval to use them in surgery, and by happenstance had them used a at later surgery performed on his own body.... might just be a BS urban legend..... but was an interesting conversation.... Doc
JYD #129
You should meet my JYD Brother of the Clock...
Sar5....
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Re: Flint Knapping ?
[Re: DocSavage]
#361638
08/09/09 09:04 PM
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 215
ColtMan
OP
Mutt
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OP
Mutt
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 215 |
Thanks Doc,
I think you are giving me way too much credit. 3-years and this is the first decent knife I have completed. It feels slow to me. I taught myself to play guitar in less than a year in comparison.
I can knap for 15-30 minutes and then I loose interest so maybe that's it.
I must be doing something wrong as this knife is not sharp at all. I can put a pretty good amount of pressure on it while running it over the tip of my finger and I am no where close to scratching myself much less cutting myself.
I think Obsidian stone has the ability to be a much sharper material but that is way too expensive for me to try
AA is for quitters
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