OT: Flint Knapping Art

[IronNoggin]

Not just eye candy.
It is indeed RAZOR sharp!
I will update with more pictures once I get to skinning this year's whitetails with it...

Better late than never...









Worked very very well!

[IronNoggin]

Ken has been busy as of late...



There is a gem & rock show coming to Combs soon. Ken will be putting on a knapping demonstration.
I'll post the info up here in case anyone might be interested...

Cheers,
Nog

[AJ01]

I hate to sound like a broken record, but...

If you took away the so-called technology we have today, and people had to survive "off the land" 90% of them probably could NOT!!

I have a friend that lives in Comstock, Texas. Way down near Big Bend State Park. He makes some of the most beautiful points and knives you've ever seen! Flint knapping is truly a very unique art form and a great skill. They have a couple of big shows around Texas every year. If you are looking for "original points", you have to be careful. There are some really talented knappers out there! And thankfully, most I have met will tell you it's NOT original peoples, but that they made it!

I saw my late Father-in-law turn down 4K for a single point. A professor of Anthropology at Texas A & M had told him it probably dated back to at least 10,000 B.C.. That point is now in the collection of my middle son.
Me and that old man had a LOT of adventures together! He started collecting points and artifacts back in the late 1930's as a kid roaming the then newly cut roads in East Texas.
His family moved here from Kansas following the oil field work. Roads were being plowed all across East Texas so they could drill the newly discovered oil here. After school, he'd walk those plowed roads. He literally picked up hundreds of thousands of pieces! He had an enormous collection at his passing! The collection was divided up between grandkids. And since his oldest daughter and I had the most kids...
But dang...I sure miss that old man!!

Most folks out there today can't even sharpen a knife correctly! I've got a 30 year old son-in-law that won't even try to sharpen a knife by hand!!
Claims he CANNOT get the right angle. I told him it's a good thing he has a Work Sharp!! Otherwise, he'd starve!

My "Hat is Off" to all who try to knap flint. It is NOT easy!


And Matt...those are really neat pieces!!! Congratulations!!!

[flightattendant100]

Beautiful!!!
If knapped correctly, I believe Obsidian can be sharper than a modern surgeons scalpel.

Not just eye candy.
It is indeed RAZOR sharp!
I will update with more pictures once I get to skinning this year's whitetails with it...

Best of Luck in your pursuit Primitive One!

Cheers,
Nog

I don’t think anything is much sharper than broken glass, and knapped obsidian is ‘bout the same thing. I bet they are sharp!

[Boo]

I always wanted to try knapping using glass. But the thought of it brought mental images of my dogs stepping on glass shards. I wonder how the natives did it and had their bare feet survive?

[IronNoggin]

I don’t think anything is much sharper than broken glass, and knapped obsidian is ‘bout the same thing. I bet they are sharp!

Extremely so!!

[Hunt it]

Google a fellow by name of Woody Blackwell. I hunted with him a few times. The man makes his living knapping and he’s one of the worlds finest if not the best. It’s unbelievable what he can make. Guys in camp took a number of pigs with heads he made.

[IronNoggin]

I had the pleasure of attending a Knapping Demonstration put on by my Buddy in Coombs. He took a good deal of time explaining what he was doing, the structure of the rock and how to use that to your advantage. He also spoke to the various styles employed by differing peoples, the material each employed, and the wide ranging trade of the finished items. The table beside him has tools for the job of antler (deer & elk), sandstone, copper and the metallic one he is using in the picture.



I had no idea just how technical this really is. It was entirely eye opening for me in that regard! The fellow REALLY knows his stuff and has degrees in both Geology and Archeology in his support.



The knife on the upper left is what he created from a large obsidian blank at the demo:



I also commissioned another like my own for my Father's impending birthday. Was well worth the drive down to watch!! Both entertaining and extremely informative.

Cheers,
Nog

[IronNoggin]

What do you get a Man who has everything he ever wanted for Christmas??
Always a tough one.
But when Pa saw the original knife I had Ken make, he promptly exclaimed "That is one of the coolest things I've ever seen!"
BINGO.

So, sweet talked Ken into yet another fine Work of Art.
Then contracted a local artist to construct a shadow box once I had found the right grain of wood:







Turned out AWESOME!
Pa is going to be wagging his tail rather hard Christmas morning methinks!!

Cheers,
Nog

[longbow joe]

I had a hickory self bow l made (no arrow shelf) l shot a nice doe with a cedar arrow and a home made 2 blade broadhead made from a cut up stainless spatula..was razor sharp.
It worked the doe expired within 70 yards ...l was lucky.
The idea of achieving accuracy with this equipment is very sketchy to say the least ...one arrow goes left one high etc.weather like rain would bend shafts..the regular longbow with alluminum arrows was challenging enough.
It comes a point where you are not respectful to the animal with this unnecessary primitiveness.
Some will argue this but it's my personal opinion.
I saw a friend shoot a doe with a flint head and longbow thought he was an indian chief ..and it bounced off the doe ...lmaoooo
This thread was very interesting good stuff