Edged weapons.... the old fashioned kind.

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IndianaBoy

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I bought this book several years ago.. also bought some materials to make the crude tools needed to get started. Then did pretty much nothing for at least a year. For Christmas, my fiance gave me a box of rocks. I was actually very happy... it was a large quantity of volcanic obsidian cobbles.

I will post some before and after pictures as well as some sunlight pictures of some of the stuff I have made. These are a few of my first 7 points made. I broke the first two trying to thin them. I think I caught on to a few things pretty quickly. I was surprised how well some of these came out. More forthcoming as time permits! I vegged out for an afternoon and stopped working on the house for a bit because I was just too stressed.


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Holy Shards, Batman!

That's some fine work.

I had to look twice to see that the pieces on the book are the same ones you're holding.

Very cool indeed.
 
Very nice! How long did it take you to get to that level of work? I destoyed the first obsidian I found. Oops.
 
Nice work. If you think that you feel proud now, just wait until you make your first knife blade.
 
You know I've always wanted to try that and never have. What materials would you recommend for someone to get started?

Jason
 
You can just go to a local glass shop and see if you can get some of their broken or scraps of 1/4" glass. You can also buy stone online from places like ebay. There's a website out there that shows you how to make an arrowhead out of a glass beer bottle.

You'll need a pressure flaker. Some just use a sharpened antler. I use a thick copper grounding wire set in a hardwood handle. Hammer a point on the copper to work harden it and you might want to clean it up a bit with a file.

You'll need a leather pad or glove to protect your hand while holding the stone. Safety glasses and shoes are also a must.

This book got me started in the right direction. http://www.amazon.com/Flintknapping-Making-Understanding-Stone-Tools/dp/029279083X

mole
 
Thanks. I didn't think about glass :rolleyes:. That makes sense, since obsidian is basically the same thing I think.

Jason
 
Plain old bottle or window glass will work. I started with obsidian, because my fiance got me about 20 pounds of it for Christmas. Obsidian, according to what I have read, is easier to flake than stone like chert, flint, or novaculite.

I too, use a copper wire set in a dowel. I have some antler for a billet, and for pressure flaking. But I haven't used it yet.

The book I used would be a good starting point. I'm sure the one mole suggested would be good.

I'm going out hunting for some flint!

Take care all.. thanks for the kind words.
 
Very nice! How long did it take you to get to that level of work? I destoyed the first obsidian I found. Oops.
Click to expand...

I really just got started. I broke my first two points. Those are 5 of my first seven. That hard part for me is still striking thin flakes. I think an antler billet might solve part of that problem.
 
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