Melvin R

Very good story. I have a friend that sells all sorts of knappable rock and he uses the “if it fits, it ships” boxes from the post office. I feel sorry for the mail man. LOL I would love to see quarries like that. Our local material is found in abundance and usually as cantaloupe shaped nodules, and hard as XXXX. It has to be spalled out into smaller pieces then heat treated in order to be used. It’s not true flint but churt. There are ancient American pitcuregraphs nearby. A small town named Paint Rock is named after them. Check out Remove commercial link. There are numerous mortar holes nearby in the solid limestone rock surfaces where native Americans would grind what ever it was that they ground. The indigenous peoples around this area were nomadic and didn’t farm. Mostly Comanche in the 1700-1800. No such thing as a settlement here until after the Comanche were “civilized” or just wiped out. Another story for another day. I’m going to Brady, Texas this coming weekend to a knappin. I plan on buying some chunks of obsidian there, if I can afford it. $3 a pound is bottom dollar for the cheap stuff. Lowes and Home Depot have what is called subway glass tile. It’s all 5/16” thick and 3 to 4 inches wide and 8 to 12 inches long. I make a lot of arrowheads out of that. And I melt glass in a microwave kiln, usually green and blue beer bottles. I’m not good at knapping but I do enjoy it.

I take a nodule of material and cut it into slices with a diamond bladed table saw. I then take a slice and I cut out the preform with a diamond bladed trim saw. Hence the name FOG, flake over grind. There is more to it that that but you get the picture. From there it’s all done with pressure flaking. I’ve never gotten the hang of working from a natural nodule, knocking off spalls and reducing them to arrowheads. I can do it but they look like crap. So by doing it the FOG way I use much less material and get better results. the pictured antler is a handle for the knife. Stay in touch if you’re interested in learning this process. I can show you videos of how I do it and even better I can put you in contact with the guy that’s teaching me. Everything is free, no worries about that. I’m sending you my contact info in a private message.

I do what is called FOG knapping. Short for flake over grind. It’s all pressure flaking. Where I live here in West Texas there is what is called Edwards Chert everywhere. The problem is that all the property around here is privately owned. I can drive the county roads and in an afternoon usually pick up 50lbs or so. The chert is very tough and has to be heat treated. I usually use obsidian and plate glass because it’s easier. I do have a pile of Georgetown flint I bought years ago. It’s ready to chip in its raw state. As for collecting tools I carry a tire tool for digging and prying chert out of the ground and a solid copper bopper to field test with. There is a knappin in Brady Texas next weekend and I’ll probably stock up on more obsidian. Mostly mahogany and dacite because it’s more affordable.

Thanks for the replies! I have upgraded my profile and changed my username to my real name. The closest I get to actual black smithing is to heat a piece of rebar with an acetylene torch and beat into the direction I want it to go. My motive was to maybe learn something about working copper that I didn’t know. What I learned is what I already knew, work harden it and dress it a lot. I’m sorry that I couldn’t contribute much to forgeing but if anyone here is into flint knapping drop me a note. Thabks, Melvin Rose

I make arrowheads I have found that copper is the best material to break the rock with. My problem is that copper in its natural state does the job but it’s much too soft to hold its desired shape. Hammering it or twist it to obtain a work hardened state works somewhat but I would love to know if there is another step I can take to get it a little harder that. I don’t know if there’s a way to do this but I need to hardened copper rod a little harder on its tips, that’s the part of the rod that I use. I’m hoping that you guys know a secret to achieveing a little more toughnesses or even maybe a slightly hard casing. Right now if it’s too soft it won’t hold its shape and I spend too much time dressing it. I tried brass and bronze but those metals are too hard and they just slip off the rock. It needs to remain copper but a tougher copper. Any suggestions? Thanks, Melvin